Polarized blazar X-rays imply particle acceleration in shocks
Ioannis Liodakis
,
Alan P. Marscher
,
Iván Agudo
,
Andrei V. Berdyugin
,
Maria I. Bernardos
,
Giacomo Bonnoli
,
George A. Borman
,
Carolina Casadio
,
Víctor Casanova
,
Elisabetta Cavazzuti
,
Nicole Rodriguez Cavero
,
Laura Di Gesu
,
Niccoló Di Lalla
,
Immacolata Donnarumma
,
Steven R. Ehlert
,
Manel Errando
,
Juan Escudero
,
Maya García-Comas
,
Beatriz Agís-González
,
César Husillos
,
Jenni Jormanainen
,
Svetlana G. Jorstad
,
Masato Kagitani
,
Evgenia N. Kopatskaya
,
Vadim Kravtsov
,
Henric Krawczynski
,
Elina Lindfors
,
Elena G. Larionova
,
Grzegorz M. Madejski
,
Frédéric Marin
(1)
,
Alessandro Marchini
,
Herman L. Marshall
,
Daria A. Morozova
,
Francesco Massaro
,
Joseph R. Masiero
,
Dimitri Mawet
,
Riccardo Middei
,
Maxwell A. Millar-Blanchaer
,
Ioannis Myserlis
,
Michela Negro
,
Kari Nilsson
,
Stephen L. O'Dell
,
Nicola Omodei
,
Luigi Pacciani
,
Alessandro Paggi
,
Georgia V. Panopoulou
,
Abel L. Peirson
,
Matteo Perri
,
Pierre-Olivier Petrucci
(2)
,
Juri Poutanen
,
Simonetta Puccetti
,
Roger W. Romani
,
Takeshi Sakanoi
,
Sergey S. Savchenko
,
Alfredo Sota
,
Fabrizio Tavecchio
,
Samaporn Tinyanont
,
Andrey A. Vasilyev
,
Zachary R. Weaver
,
Alexey V. Zhovtan
,
Lucio A. Antonelli
,
Matteo Bachetti
,
Luca Baldini
,
Wayne H. Baumgartner
,
Ronaldo Bellazzini
,
Stefano Bianchi
,
Stephen D. Bongiorno
,
Raffaella Bonino
,
Alessandro Brez
,
Niccoló Bucciantini
,
Fiamma Capitanio
,
Simone Castellano
,
Stefano Ciprini
,
Enrico Costa
,
Alessandra de Rosa
,
Ettore del Monte
,
Alessandro Di Marco
,
Victor Doroshenko
,
Michal Dovčiak
,
Teruaki Enoto
,
Yuri Evangelista
,
Sergio Fabiani
,
Riccardo Ferrazzoli
,
Javier A. Garcia
,
Shuichi Gunji
,
Kiyoshi Hayashida
,
Jeremy Heyl
,
Wataru Iwakiri
,
Vladimir Karas
,
Takao Kitaguchi
,
Jeffery J. Kolodziejczak
,
Fabio La Monaca
,
Luca Latronico
,
Simone Maldera
,
Alberto Manfreda
,
Andrea Marinucci
,
Giorgio Matt
,
Ikuyuki Mitsuishi
,
Tsunefumi Mizuno
,
Fabio Muleri
,
Stephen C. -Y. Ng
,
Chiara Oppedisano
,
Alessandro Papitto
,
George G. Pavlov
,
Melissa Pesce-Rollins
,
Maura Pilia
,
Andrea Possenti
,
Brian D. Ramsey
,
John Rankin
,
Ajay Ratheesh
,
Carmelo Sgró
,
Patrick Slane
,
Paolo Soffitta
,
Gloria Spandre
,
Toru Tamagawa
,
Roberto Taverna
,
Yuzuru Tawara
,
Allyn F. Tennant
,
Nicolas E. Thomas
,
Francesco Tombesi
,
Alessio Trois
,
Sergey Tsygankov
,
Roberto Turolla
,
Jacco Vink
,
Martin C. Weisskopf
,
Kinwah Wu
,
Fei Xie
,
Silvia Zane
Ioannis Liodakis
- Function : Author
Alan P. Marscher
- Function : Author
Iván Agudo
- Function : Author
Andrei V. Berdyugin
- Function : Author
Maria I. Bernardos
- Function : Author
Giacomo Bonnoli
- Function : Author
George A. Borman
- Function : Author
Carolina Casadio
- Function : Author
Víctor Casanova
- Function : Author
Elisabetta Cavazzuti
- Function : Author
Nicole Rodriguez Cavero
- Function : Author
Laura Di Gesu
- Function : Author
Niccoló Di Lalla
- Function : Author
Immacolata Donnarumma
- Function : Author
Steven R. Ehlert
- Function : Author
Manel Errando
- Function : Author
Juan Escudero
- Function : Author
Maya García-Comas
- Function : Author
Beatriz Agís-González
- Function : Author
César Husillos
- Function : Author
Jenni Jormanainen
- Function : Author
Svetlana G. Jorstad
- Function : Author
Masato Kagitani
- Function : Author
Evgenia N. Kopatskaya
- Function : Author
Vadim Kravtsov
- Function : Author
Henric Krawczynski
- Function : Author
Elina Lindfors
- Function : Author
Elena G. Larionova
- Function : Author
Grzegorz M. Madejski
- Function : Author
Alessandro Marchini
- Function : Author
Herman L. Marshall
- Function : Author
Daria A. Morozova
- Function : Author
Francesco Massaro
- Function : Author
Joseph R. Masiero
- Function : Author
Dimitri Mawet
- Function : Author
Riccardo Middei
- Function : Author
Maxwell A. Millar-Blanchaer
- Function : Author
Ioannis Myserlis
- Function : Author
Michela Negro
- Function : Author
Kari Nilsson
- Function : Author
Stephen L. O'Dell
- Function : Author
Nicola Omodei
- Function : Author
Luigi Pacciani
- Function : Author
Alessandro Paggi
- Function : Author
Georgia V. Panopoulou
- Function : Author
Abel L. Peirson
- Function : Author
Matteo Perri
- Function : Author
Pierre-Olivier Petrucci
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 739658
- IdHAL : pierre-olivier-petrucci
- ORCID : 0000-0001-6061-3480
- IdRef : 138456216
Juri Poutanen
- Function : Author
Simonetta Puccetti
- Function : Author
Roger W. Romani
- Function : Author
Takeshi Sakanoi
- Function : Author
Sergey S. Savchenko
- Function : Author
Alfredo Sota
- Function : Author
Fabrizio Tavecchio
- Function : Author
Samaporn Tinyanont
- Function : Author
Andrey A. Vasilyev
- Function : Author
Zachary R. Weaver
- Function : Author
Alexey V. Zhovtan
- Function : Author
Lucio A. Antonelli
- Function : Author
Matteo Bachetti
- Function : Author
Luca Baldini
- Function : Author
Wayne H. Baumgartner
- Function : Author
Ronaldo Bellazzini
- Function : Author
Stefano Bianchi
- Function : Author
Stephen D. Bongiorno
- Function : Author
Raffaella Bonino
- Function : Author
Alessandro Brez
- Function : Author
Niccoló Bucciantini
- Function : Author
Fiamma Capitanio
- Function : Author
Simone Castellano
- Function : Author
Stefano Ciprini
- Function : Author
Enrico Costa
- Function : Author
Alessandra de Rosa
- Function : Author
Ettore del Monte
- Function : Author
Alessandro Di Marco
- Function : Author
Victor Doroshenko
- Function : Author
Michal Dovčiak
- Function : Author
Teruaki Enoto
- Function : Author
Yuri Evangelista
- Function : Author
Sergio Fabiani
- Function : Author
Riccardo Ferrazzoli
- Function : Author
Javier A. Garcia
- Function : Author
Shuichi Gunji
- Function : Author
Kiyoshi Hayashida
- Function : Author
Jeremy Heyl
- Function : Author
Wataru Iwakiri
- Function : Author
Vladimir Karas
- Function : Author
Takao Kitaguchi
- Function : Author
Jeffery J. Kolodziejczak
- Function : Author
Fabio La Monaca
- Function : Author
Luca Latronico
- Function : Author
Simone Maldera
- Function : Author
Alberto Manfreda
- Function : Author
Andrea Marinucci
- Function : Author
Giorgio Matt
- Function : Author
Ikuyuki Mitsuishi
- Function : Author
Tsunefumi Mizuno
- Function : Author
Fabio Muleri
- Function : Author
Stephen C. -Y. Ng
- Function : Author
Chiara Oppedisano
- Function : Author
Alessandro Papitto
- Function : Author
George G. Pavlov
- Function : Author
Melissa Pesce-Rollins
- Function : Author
Maura Pilia
- Function : Author
Andrea Possenti
- Function : Author
Brian D. Ramsey
- Function : Author
John Rankin
- Function : Author
Ajay Ratheesh
- Function : Author
Carmelo Sgró
- Function : Author
Patrick Slane
- Function : Author
Paolo Soffitta
- Function : Author
Gloria Spandre
- Function : Author
Toru Tamagawa
- Function : Author
Roberto Taverna
- Function : Author
Yuzuru Tawara
- Function : Author
Allyn F. Tennant
- Function : Author
Nicolas E. Thomas
- Function : Author
Francesco Tombesi
- Function : Author
Alessio Trois
- Function : Author
Sergey Tsygankov
- Function : Author
Roberto Turolla
- Function : Author
Jacco Vink
- Function : Author
Martin C. Weisskopf
- Function : Author
Kinwah Wu
- Function : Author
Fei Xie
- Function : Author
Silvia Zane
- Function : Author
Abstract
Most of the light from blazars, active galactic nuclei with jets of magnetized plasma that point nearly along the line of sight, is produced by high-energy particles, up to around 1 TeV. Although the jets are known to be ultimately powered by a supermassive black hole, how the particles are accelerated to such high energies has been an unanswered question. The process must be related to the magnetic field, which can be probed by observations of the polarization of light from the jets. Measurements of the radio to optical polarization—the only range available until now—probe extended regions of the jet containing particles that left the acceleration site days to years earlier1-3, and hence do not directly explore the acceleration mechanism, as could X-ray measurements. Here we report the detection of X-ray polarization from the blazar Markarian 501 (Mrk 501). We measure an X-ray linear polarization degree ΠX of around 10%, which is a factor of around 2 higher than the value at optical wavelengths, with a polarization angle parallel to the radio jet. This points to a shock front as the source of particle acceleration and also implies that the plasma becomes increasingly turbulent with distance from the shock.