A survey of polarization in the JVAS/CLASS flat-spectrum radio source surveys – I. The data and catalogue production

We have used the very large JVAS/CLASS 8.4-GHz surveys of flat-spectrum radio sources to obtain a large, uniformly observed and calibrated, sample of radio source polarizations. These are useful for many investigations of the properties of radio sources and the interstellar medium. We discuss comparisons with polarization measurements from this survey and from other large-scale surveys of polarization in flat-spectrum sources.     

The properties of powerful radio sources at 90 GHz

We have observed a small sample of powerful double radio sources (radio galaxies and quasars) at frequencies around 90 GHz with the Berkeley Illinois Maryland Association (BIMA) millimetre array, with the intention of constraining the resolved high-frequency spectra of radio galaxies. When combined with other sources we have previously observed and with data from the BIMA archive, these observations allow us for the first time to make general statements about the high-frequency behaviour of compact components of radio galaxies – cores, jets and hotspots. We find that cores in our sample remain flat-spectrum up to 90 GHz; jets in some of our targets are detected at 90 GHz for the first time in our new observations and hotspots are found to be almost universal, but show a wide range of spectral properties. Emission from the extended lobes of radio galaxies is detected in a few cases and shows rough consistency with the expectations from standard spectral ageing models, though our ability to probe this in detail is limited by the sensitivity of BIMA. We briefly discuss the prospects for radio galaxy astrophysics with Atacama Large Millimeter Array.     

Red synchrotron jets in Parkes quasars

We present model fits to spectral energy distributions in the optical and near-infrared of >100 flat-spectrum radio quasars from the Parkes Half-Jansky Flat-spectrum Sample. We find that ∼40 per cent of the sources have power-law spectral energy distributions (SEDs), while a similar number show evidence for two primary components: a blue power law and optical synchrotron emission. The blue power law is similar to the dominant component observed in the spectra of optically selected quasars. There is strong evidence that the synchrotron component has a turnover in the ultraviolet–optical rest frame of the spectrum. In the remaining sources, it is likely that the synchrotron peaks at longer wavelengths. This mixture of two components is supported by optical polarization measurements in a subgroup of the sources. The sources with power-law SEDs show evidence for an excess number of red power-law slopes compared with optically selected quasars. There are additional spectral components in some of the sources, such as dust and the underlying galaxy, which have not been considered here.     

Intermediate BL Lac objects

The 200-mJy sample, defined by Marchã et al., contains about 60 nearby, northern, flat-spectrum radio sources. In particular, the sample has proved effective at finding nearby radio-selected BL Lac objects with radio luminosities comparable to those of X-ray-selected objects, and low-luminosity flat-spectrum weak emission-line radio galaxies (WLRGs). The 200-mJy sample contains 23 BL Lac objects (including 6 BL Lac candidates) and 19 WLRGs. We will refer to these subsamples as the 200-mJy BL Lac sample and the 200-mJy WLRG sample, respectively. We have started a systematic analysis of the morphological pc-scale properties of the 200-mJy radio sources using VLBI observations.
This paper presents VLBI observations at 5 and 1.6 GHz of 14 BL Lac objects and WLRGs selected from the 200-mJy sample. The pc-scale morphology of these objects is briefly discussed. We derive the radio beaming parameters of the 200-mJy BL Lac objects and WLRGs and compare them with those of other BL Lac samples and with a sample of FR I radio galaxies. The overall broad-band radio, optical and X-ray properties of the 200-mJy BL Lac sample are discussed and compared with those of other BL Lac samples, radio- and X-ray-selected. We find that the 200-mJy BL Lac objects fill the gap between HBL and LBL objects in the colour–colour plot, and have intermediate α _XOX as expected in the spectral energy distribution unification scenario. Finally, we briefly discuss the role of the WLRGs.     

A Unified View of Relativistic Jets

I summarize here recent work on the physical conditions in blazar jets including the comparison between emission regions at subparsec scales (10¹⁶⁻¹⁷ cm) and at very large scales (10²²⁻²⁴ cm) recently detected in X-rays by Chandra. The jet properties at both scales together with those of the presumed associated accretion disk (10¹⁴⁻¹⁵ cm) suggest the possibility of a unified scenario for the origin and propagation of jets in strong radio sources.     

The ATCA intraday variability survey of extragalactic radio sources

We present the results of an Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) survey for intraday variability (IDV) of the total and polarized flux densities of 118 compact, flat-spectrum, extragalactic radio sources from the Parkes 2.7-GHz Survey. A total of 22 total flux density IDV sources were discovered and 15 sources were found to show IDV of their polarized flux density. We discuss the statistical properties of the IDV sources, including the distribution of source modulation indices, and the dependence of the variability amplitude on source spectral index and on Galactic position. We suggest interstellar scintillation (ISS) in the Galactic interstellar medium as the most likely mechanism for IDV. Even so, the inferred high brightness temperatures cannot be easily explained.     

Collimation of extragalactic radio jets in compact steep-spectrum and larger sources

We study the collimation of radio jets in the high-luminosity Fanaroff–Riley class II sources by examining the dependence of the sizes of hotspots and knots in the radio jets on the overall size of the objects for a sample of compact steep-spectrum (CSS) and larger-sized objects. The objects span a wide range in overall size from about 50 pc to nearly 1 Mpc. The mean size of the hotspots increases with the source size during the CSS phase, which is typically taken to be about 20 kpc, and the relationship flattens for the larger sources. The sizes of the knots in the compact as well as the larger sources are consistent with this trend. We discuss possible implications of these trends. We find that the hotspot closer to the nucleus or core component tends to be more compact for the most asymmetric objects where the ratio of separations of the hotspots from the nucleus r _d>2. These highly asymmetric sources are invariably CSS objects, and their location in the hotspot size ratio–separation ratio diagram is possibly the result of their evolution in an asymmetric environment. We also suggest that some sources, especially of lower luminosity, exhibit an asymmetry in the collimation of the oppositely directed radio jets.     

Polarization Position Angle Swings caused by Relativistic Effects

Polarization position angle swings of - 180 ° observed in extragalactic radio sources are a regular behavior of variability in polarization. They should be due to some kind of physically regular process. We consider relativistic shocks which propagate through and 'illuminate' regular configurations of magnetic field, producing polarization angle swing events. Two magnetic field configurations (force-free field and homogeneous helical field) are considered to demonstrate the results. It is shown that the properties of polarization angle swings and the relationship between the swings and variations in total and polarized flux density are critically dependent on the configuration of magnetic field and the dynamical behavior of the shock. In particular, we find that in some cases polarization angle swings can occur when the total and polarized flux densities only vary by a very small amount. These results may be useful for understanding the polarization variability with both long and short timescales obser     

5-GHz MERLIN and VLBA observations of compact 9C sources

In this paper, we present subarcsecond resolution observations of 36 compact sources from the 15^h region of the 15-GHz 9th Cambridge survey. These sources all have previously measured simultaneous continuum radio spectra spanning 1.4–43 GHz and we classify each source by fitting a quadratic function to its spectrum. Using the Multi-Element Radio-Linked Interferometer Network and the Very Long Baseline Array, both at 5 GHz, we resolve all six steep-spectrum objects and four of the 13 flat-spectrum objects. However, none of the 16 objects with convex spectra peaking above 2.5 GHz is resolved even at <3-mas resolution. These results, in combination with the findings of a 15-GHz variability study, suggest that emission from the high-frequency peaking objects is affected by relativistic beaming, and that these objects are not necessarily as young as the synchrotron self-absorption interpretation of their peak frequencies would imply.     

Optical spectroscopy of faint gigahertz peaked‐spectrum sources

We present spectroscopic observations of a sample of faint gigahertz peaked‐spectrum (GPS) radio sources drawn from the Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (WENSS). Redshifts have been determined for 19 (40 per cent) of the objects. The optical spectra of the GPS sources identified with low‐redshift galaxies show deep stellar absorption features. This confirms previous suggestions that their optical light is not significantly contaminated by active galactic nucleus-related emission, but is dominated by a population of old (>9 Gyr) and metal-rich (>0.2 [Fe/H]) stars, justifying the use of these (probably) young radio sources as probes of galaxy evolution. The optical spectra of GPS sources identified with quasars are indistinguishable from those of flat-spectrum quasars, and clearly different from the spectra of compact steep‐spectrum (CSS) quasars. The redshift distribution of the GPS quasars in our radio-faint sample is comparable to that of the bright samples presented in the literature, peaking at z ∼2–3. It is unlikely that a significant population of low-redshift GPS quasars is missed as a result of selection effects in our sample. We therefore claim that there is a genuine difference between the redshift distributions of GPS galaxies and quasars, which, because it is present in both the radio-faint and bright samples, cannot be caused by a redshift–luminosity degeneracy. It is therefore unlikely that the GPS quasars and galaxies are unified by orientation, unless the quasar opening angle is a strong function of redshift. We suggest that the GPS quasars and galaxies are unrelated populations and just happen to have identical observed radio spectral properties, and hypothesize that GPS quasars are a subclass of flat-spectrum quasars.     

Radio circular polarization produced in helical magnetic fields in eight active galactic nuclei

Homan & Lister have recently published circular polarization (CP) detections for 34 objects in the MOJAVE sample – a set of bright, compact active galactic nuclei (AGN) being monitored by the Very Long Baseline Array at 15 GHz. We report the detection of 15-GHz parsec-scale CP in two more AGN (3C 345 and 2231+114), and confirm the MOJAVE detection of CP in 1633+382. It is generally believed that the most likely mechanism for the generation of this CP is Faraday conversion of linear polarization (LP) to CP. A helical jet magnetic field ( B field) geometry can facilitate this process – linearly polarized emission from the far side of the jet is converted to CP as it passes through the magnetized plasma at the front side of the jet on its way towards the observer. In this case, the sign of the generated CP is essentially determined by the pitch angle and helicity of the helical B field. We have determined the pitch-angle regimes and helicities of the helical jet B fields in eight AGN for which parsec-scale CP has been detected, and used them to predict the expected CP signs for these AGN if the CP is generated via conversion in these helical fields. We have obtained the intriguing result that our predictions agree with the observed signs in all eight cases, provided that the longitudinal B field components in the jets correspond to south magnetic poles. This clearly non-random pattern demonstrates that the observed CP in AGN is directly associated with the presence of helical jet B fields. These results suggest that helical B fields are ubiquitous in AGN jets.     

A survey of polarization in the JVAS/CLASS flat-spectrum radio source surveys – II. A search for aligned radio polarizations

We have used the very large Jodrell Bank VLA Astrometric Survey/Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey 8.4-GHz surveys of flat-spectrum radio sources to test the hypothesis that there is a systematic alignment of polarization position angle vectors on cosmological scales of the type claimed by Hutsemékers et al. The polarization position angles of 4290 sources with polarized flux density ≥1 mJy have been examined. They do not reveal large-scale alignments either as a whole or when split in half into high-redshift  ( z ≥ 1.24)  and low-redshift subsamples. Nor do the radio sources which lie in the specific areas covered by Hutsemékers et al. show any significant effect. We have also looked at the position angles of parsec-scale jets derived from very long baseline interferometry observations and again find no evidence for systematic alignments. Finally, we have investigated the correlation between the polarization position angle and those of the parsec-scale jets. As expected, we find that there is a tendency for the polarization angles to be perpendicular to the jet angles. However, the difference in jet and polarization position angles does not show any systematic trend in different parts of the sky.     

Models of young powerful radio sources

Observations of compact symmetric double sources suggest that these objects with physical scales of order tens of parsecs to kiloparsecs are young radio active galactic nuclei. There is, in general, a striking similarity between the structures of these compact objects and the structures of large evolved radio galaxies although the latter are two to three orders of magnitude larger. This has led to the use of self-similar models of the evolution of radio sources as a framework for interpreting observational data. However, the assumptions on which the self-similar models are based become increasingly less valid on the physical scales which are probed by the observations of the smallest sources. In this paper, the dynamics of sources on these small scales is examined and a model developed which extends earlier work in a self-consistent way to small physical scales. The limit of applicability of the models is identified as is the transition from an early evolutionary phase to the self-similar phase of expansion.     

A unifying view of the spectral energy distributions of blazars

We collect data at well-sampled frequencies from the radio to the γ-ray range for the following three complete samples of blazars: the Slew survey, the 1-Jy samples of BL Lacs and the 2-Jy sample of flat-spectrum radio-loud quasars (FSRQs). The fraction of objects detected in γ-rays ( E  ≳ 100 MeV) is ∼ 17, 26 and 40 per cent in the three samples respectively. Except for the Slew survey sample, γ-ray detected sources do not differ either from other sources in each sample, or from all the γ-ray detected sources, in terms of the distributions of redshift, radio and X-ray luminosities or of the broad-band spectral indices (radio to optical and radio to X-ray). We compute average spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from radio to γ-rays for each complete sample and for groups of blazars binned according to radio luminosity, irrespective of the original classification as BL Lac or FSRQ. The resulting SEDs show a remarkable continuity in that (i) the first peak occurs in different frequency ranges for different samples/luminosity classes, with most luminous sources peaking at lower frequencies; (ii) the peak frequency of the γ-ray component correlates with the peak frequency of the lower energy one; (iii) the luminosity ratio between the high and low frequency components increases with bolometric luminosity. The continuity of properties among different classes of sources and the systematic trends of the SEDs as a function of luminosity favour a unified view of the blazar phenomenon: a single parameter, related to luminosity, seems to govern the physical properties and radiation mechanisms in the relativistic jets present in BL Lac objects as well as in FSRQs. The general implications of this unified scheme are discussed while a detailed theoretical analysis, based on fitting continuum models to the individual spectra of most γ-ray blazars, is presented in a separate paper.     

Analysis of λ = 6 cm VLBI polarization observations of a complete sample of northern BL Lacertae objects

The results of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) total intensity ( I ) and linear polarization ( P ) observations at     are presented for 10 radio bright BL Lacertae objects. These images complete first-epoch polarization observations for the 1-Jy sample of northern BL Lacertae objects defined by Kühr & Schmidt. Estimates of superluminal speeds are presented for several sources, bringing the total number of sources in the sample for which such estimates are available to 16. Second-epoch observations currently being reduced should yield speed estimates for VLBI features in essentially all the sources in the sample. The jet magnetic fields of these BL Lacertae objects are usually transverse to the local jet direction, but a sizeable minority (about 30 per cent) have VLBI jet components with longitudinal magnetic fields. This may suggest that the conditions in the VLBI jets of BL Lacertae objects are favourable for the formation of relativistic shocks; alternatively, it may be that the toroidal component of the intrinsic jet magnetic field is characteristically dominant in these sources.     

The Deep X-Ray Radio Blazar Survey (DXRBS) – II. New identifications

We have searched the archived, pointed ROSAT Position Sensitive Proportional Counter data for blazars by correlating the WGACAT X-ray data base with several publicly available radio catalogues, restricting our candidate list to serendipitous X-ray sources with a flat radio spectrum ( α _r≤0.70, where S _ν ∝ ν ^{− α} ). This makes up the Deep X-ray Radio Blazar Survey (DXRBS). Here we present new identifications and spectra for 106 sources, including 86 radio-loud quasars, 11 BL Lacertae objects, and nine narrow-line radio galaxies. Together with our previously published objects and already-known sources, our sample now contains 298 identified objects: 234 radio-loud quasars [181 flat-spectrum quasars: FSRQ ( α _r≤0.50) and 53 steep-spectrum quasars: SSRQ], 36 BL Lacs and 28 narrow-line radio galaxies. Redshift information is available for 96 per cent of these. Thus our selection technique is ∼90 per cent efficient at finding radio-loud quasars and BL Lacs. Reaching 5-GHz radio fluxes ∼50 mJy and 0.1–2.0 keV X-ray fluxes a few ×10⁻¹⁴ erg cm⁻² s⁻¹, DXRBS is the faintest and largest flat-spectrum radio sample with nearly complete (∼85 per cent) identification. We review the properties of the DXRBS blazar sample, including redshift distribution and coverage of the X-ray-radio–power plane for quasars and BL Lacs. Additionally, we touch upon the expanded multiwavelength view of blazars provided by DXRBS. By sampling for the first time the faint end of the radio and X-ray luminosity functions, this sample will allow us to investigate the blazar phenomenon and the validity of unified schemes down to relatively low powers.     

Radio imaging of the Subaru/XMM–Newton Deep Field – II. The 37 brightest radio sources

We study the 37 brightest radio sources in the Subaru/ XMM–Newton Deep Field. We have spectroscopic redshifts for 24 of 37 objects and photometric redshifts for the remainder, yielding a median redshift z _med for the whole sample of   z _med≃ 1.1  and a median radio luminosity close to the 'Fanaroff–Riley type I/type II (FR I/FR II)' luminosity divide. Using mid-infrared (mid-IR) ( Spitzer MIPS 24 μm) data we expect to trace nuclear accretion activity, even if it is obscured at optical wavelengths, unless the obscuring column is extreme. Our results suggest that above the FR I/FR II radio luminosity break most of the radio sources are associated with objects that have excess mid-IR emission, only some of which are broad-line objects, although there is one clear low-accretion-rate object with an FR I radio structure. For extended steep-spectrum radio sources, the fraction of objects with mid-IR excess drops dramatically below the FR I/FR II luminosity break, although there exists at least one high-accretion-rate 'radio-quiet' QSO. We have therefore shown that the strong link between radio luminosity (or radio structure) and accretion properties, well known at z ∼ 0.1, persists to z ∼ 1. Investigation of mid-IR and blue excesses shows that they are correlated as predicted by a model in which, when significant accretion exists, a torus of dust absorbs ∼30 per cent of the light, and the dust above and below the torus scatters ≳1 per cent of the light.     

Imaging optically-thin hotspots near the black hole horizon of Sgr A* at radio and near-infrared wavelengths

Submilliarcsecond astrometry and imaging of the black hole Sgr A* at the Galactic Centre may become possible in the near future at infrared and submillimetre wavelengths. Motivated by the observations of short-term infrared and X-ray variability of Sgr A*, in a previous paper, we computed the expected images and light curves, including polarization, associated with a compact emission region orbiting the central black hole. We extend this work, using a more realistic hotspot model and including the effects of opacity in the underlying accretion flow. We find that at infrared wavelengths, the qualitative features identified by our earlier work are present, namely it is possible to extract the black hole mass and spin from spot images and light curves of the observed flux and polarization. At radio wavelengths, disc opacity produces significant departures from the infrared behaviour, but there are still generic signatures of the black hole properties. Detailed comparison of these results with future data can be used to test general relativity and to improve existing models for the accretion flow in the immediate vicinity of the black hole.     

Red quasars not so dusty

Webster et al. claimed that up to 80 per cent of QSOs may be obscured by dust. They inferred the presence of this dust from the remarkably broad range of B − K optical–infrared colours of a sample of flat-spectrum PKS radio QSOs. If such dust is typical of QSOs, it will have rendered invisible most of those which would otherwise have been detected by optical surveys. We used the William Herschel Telescope on La Palma to obtain K infrared images of 54 B3 radio QSOs selected at low frequency (mainly steep-spectrum), and we find that although several have very red optical–infrared colours, most of these can be attributed to an excess of light in K rather than a dust-induced deficit in B. We present evidence that some of the infrared excess comes from the light of stars in the host galaxy (some, as previously suggested, comes from synchrotron radiation associated with flat-spectrum radio sources). The B − K colours of the B3 QSOs provide no evidence for a large reddened population. Either the Webster et al. QSOs are atypical in having such large extinctions, or their reddening is not due to dust; either way, the broad range of their B − K colours does not provide evidence that a large fraction of QSOs has been missed from optical surveys.     

On the redshift cut-off for steep-spectrum radio sources

We use three samples (3CRR, 6CE and 6C*) selected at low radio frequency to constrain the cosmic evolution in the radio luminosity function (RLF) for the 'most luminous' steep-spectrum radio sources. Though intrinsically rare, such sources give the largest possible baseline in redshift for the complete flux-density-limited samples currently available. Using parametric models to describe the RLF, incorporating distributions in radio spectral shape and linear size, as well as the usual luminosity and redshift, we find that the data are consistent with a constant comoving space density between     and     . We find that this model is favoured over a model with similar evolutionary behaviour to that of optically selected quasars (i.e., a roughly Gaussian distribution in redshift) with probability ratios of     and     for spatially flat cosmologies with     and     respectively. Within the uncertainties, this evolutionary behaviour may be reconciled with the shallow decline preferred for the comoving space density of flat-spectrum sources by Dunlop & Peacock and Jarvis & Rawlings, in line with the expectations of unified schemes.