J/A+A/590/A10ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/590/A10doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.35900010CDSKiehlmann S.Savolainen T.Jorstad S.G.Sokolovsky K.V.Schinzel F.K.,Marscher A.P.Larionov V.M.Agudo I.Akitaya H.Benitez E.,Berdyugin A.Blinov D.A.Bochkarev N.G.Borman G.A.Burenkov A.N.,Casadio C.Doroshenko V.T.Efimova N.V.Fukazawa Y.Gomez J.L.,Grishina T.S.Hagen-Thorn V.A.Heidt J.Hiriart D.Itoh R.Joshi M.,Kawabata K.S.Kimeridze G.N.Kopatskaya E.N.Korobtsev I.V.Krajci T.,Kurtanidze O.M.Kurtanidze S.O.Larionova E.G.Larionova L.V.,Lindfors E.Lopez J.M.McHardy I.M.Molina S.N.Moritani Y.,Morozova D.A.Nazarov S.V.Nikolashvili M.G.Nilsson K.Pulatova N.G.,Reinthal R.Sadun A.Sasada M.Savchenko S.S.Sergeev S.G.Sigua L.A.,Smith P.S.Sorcia M.Spiridonova O.I.Takaki K.Takalo L.O.Taylor B.,Troitsky I.S.Uemura M.Ugolkova L.S.Ui T.Yoshida M.Zensus J.A.,Zhdanova V.E.2017-06-12T08:24:55Z2016-04-28T08:48:12ZCDS support team

CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

cds-question@unistra.fractive-galactic-nucleiquasarsradio-galaxiesphotometrypolarimetryOver the past few years, several occasions of large, continuous rotations of the electric vector position angle (EVPA) of linearly polarized optical emission from blazars have been reported. These events are often coincident with high energy gamma-ray flares and they have attracted considerable attention, as they could allow one to probe the magnetic field structure in the gamma-ray emitting region of the jet. The flat-spectrum radio quasar 3C 279 is one of the most prominent examples showing this behaviour. Our goal is to study the observed EVPA rotations and to distinguish between a stochastic and a deterministic origin of the polarization variability. We have combined multiple data sets of R-band photometry and optical polarimetry measurements of 3C 279, yielding exceptionally well-sampled flux density and polarization curves that cover a period of 2008-2012. Several large EVPA rotations are identified in the data. We introduce a quantitative measure for the EVPA curve smoothness, which is then used to test a set of simple random walk polarization variability models against the data. 3C 279 shows different polarization variation characteristics during an optical low-flux state and a flaring state. The polarization variation during the flaring state, especially the smooth approx. 360 deg. rotation of the EVPA in mid-2011, is not consistent with the tested stochastic processes. We conclude that during the two different optical flux states, two different processes govern the polarization variation, possibly a stochastic process during the low-brightness state and a deterministic process during the flaring activity.2016A&A...590A..10Khttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/590/A10CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic servicerelated-toJ/A+A/409/857 : Optical polarization of 3C 279 (Andruchow+, 2003)J/AJ/133/2866 : 2001-02 optical variability of blazar 3C 279 (Kartaltepe+ 2007)J/ApJ/772/13 : VLBI observations of 3C 279 at 230GHz (Lu+, 2013)https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/590/A10https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/590/A10http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/590/A10https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/590/A10https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/590/A10http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/590/A10GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tap2.762881831355591e-19 3.3785437584409506e-19RadioOpticaldefaultJ/A+A/590/A10/pol_oriMeasured optical polarization data of 3C 279recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintObsObservatorymeta.id;instr.obstycharBand[R V WL V+R spec] Filterinstr.bandpasscharJDJulian datedtime.epochdoublePFFractional polarization in Band (1)phys.polarizationfloate_PFrms uncertainty on PFstat.errorfloatPAPolarization angle in Band (2)degpos.posAng;phys.polarizationfloate_PArms uncertainty on PAdegstat.errorfloatFlag[Y] "Y" marks data points flagged as outliersmeta.code.errorcharJ/A+A/590/A10/phot_oriMeasured R-band magnitudes of 3C 279ObsObservatorymeta.id;instr.obstycharrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintBand[R] Filterinstr.bandpasscharJDJulian datedtime.epochdoubleRmagR magnitudemagphot.mag;em.opt.Rfloate_Rmagrms uncertainty in Rmagmagstat.error;phot.mag;em.opt.RfloatFlag[Y] "Y" marks data points flagged as outliersmeta.code.errorcharJ/A+A/590/A10/pol_proProcessed, combined optical polarization datarecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintJDJulian date (1)dtime.epochdoublePFFractional polarization debiased (2)phys.polarizationfloate_PFrms uncertainty on PFstat.errorfloatPAPolarization angle (3)degpos.posAng;phys.polarizationfloatPAadjAdjusted polarization angle (4)degpos.posAng;phys.polarizationfloate_PArms uncertainty on PAdegstat.errorfloatJ/A+A/590/A10/phot_proProcessed, combined R-band photometry of 3C 279recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintJDJulian date (1)dtime.epochdoubleBand[R] Filterinstr.bandpasscharRmagR magnitude (2)magphot.mag;em.opt.Rfloate_Rmagrms uncertainty in Rmag (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.opt.RfloatRmagccCross-calibrated R magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.opt.Rfloate_Rmagccrms uncertainty in Rmagcc (3)magstat.errorfloatRmagexExtinction corrected, cross-calibrated R magnitude (4)magphot.mag;em.opt.Rfloate_Rmagexrms uncertainty in Rmagex (4)magstat.errorfloatFluxSpectral flux density (5)mJyphot.flux.density;em.opt.Rfloate_FluxSpectral flux density uncertainty (5)mJystat.error;phot.fluxfloatFlag[Y] "Y" marks data points flagged as outliersmeta.code.errorchar