Evidence for accretion disks in highly polarized quasars

view Abstract Citations (51) References (14) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Evidence for Accretion Disks in Highly Polarized Quasars Smith, Paul S. ; Elston, Richard ; Berriman, Graham ; Allen, Richard G. ; Balonek, Thomas J. Abstract We present UBVRI polarimetry and photometry of 11 highly polarized quasars (HPQs). Three of these HPQs (0420-014, 1156+295, and 3C 454.3) clearly show decreasing linear polarization toward shorter wavelengths. We model the observed optical continua of these HPQs as a combination of polarized synchrotron emission, unpolarized emission from the broad-line region, and an unpolarized flat spectral component that may be optically thick thermal emission from an accretion disk. Marginal evidence for such a thermal component is also seen in the data for 1510-089 and 2345-167. Rough upper limits for the brightness of a thermal component can be placed on five other HPQs. We find a range in luminosity of at least a factor of 10 for the HPQ thermal components. The near-ultraviolet luminosities of the HPQ thermal components derived from our models fall near the average luminosity of the quasars in the PG survey. Only the presence of a bright synchrotron component seems to distinguish some HPQs from low-polarization, optically selected QSOs at optical and near-UV wavelengths. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: March 1988 DOI: 10.1086/185119 Bibcode: 1988ApJ...326L..39S Keywords: Accretion Disks; Linear Polarization; Polarized Light; Quasars; Synchrotron Radiation; Ubv Spectra; Astronomical Photometry; Infrared Spectra; Luminosity; Ultraviolet Spectra; Astrophysics; PHOTOMETRY; POLARIZATION; QUASARS; RADIATION MECHANISMS full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (10) NED (10)

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