The general model for incoherent synchrotron radiation has long been known, with the first theory being published by Westfold in $1959$ and continued by Westfold and Legg in $1968$. When this model was first developed it was applied to radiation from Jupiter, with a magnetic field of $\approx$ 1 G. Pulsars have a magnetic field of $\approx 10^{12}$ G. The Westfold and Legg model predict a circular polarization which is proportional to the square root of the magnetic field, and consequently predicts greater than 100 per cent circular polarization at high magnetic fields. Here a new model is derived based upon a more detailed analysis of the pitch angle distribution. This model is concerned with the frequency range $f_{B_0}/γ<<f\lesssim f_{B_0}$, noting that $f_{B_0} = 2.7\times10^7B$, which for a relatively high magnetic field ($\sim 10^6-10^8$ Gauss) leaves emission in the optical range. This is much lower than the expected frequency peak for a mono-energetic particle of $0.29\frac{3eB}{4πm_e c}γ^2$. We predict the circular polarization peaks around $10^7$G in the optical regime with the radiation almost $15$ per cent circularly polarized. The linear polarization changes from about $60$ to $80$ per cent in the same regime. We examine implications of this for pulsar studies.
Inhomogeneities can influence the polarisation emerging from a synchrotron source. However, it is shown that the frequency distribution of circular polarisation is only marginally affected, although its magnitude may change substantially. This is used to argue that the observed properties of compact radio sources imply a radiating plasma in which the characteristic waves are nearly circular. As a result, restrictions can be put on the low energy part of the energy distribution of the relativistic electrons as well as the presence of electron-positron pairs. It is emphasised that this constrain…
It is shown that the frequency distribution of the degree of circular polarisation for a homogeneous source is sensitive to the properties of the synchrotron emitting plasma. Most of the circular polarisation comes from the region around the turn-over frequency, where the synchrotron radiation becomes optically thick. However, nearly circular characteristic waves result in circular polarisation dominated by frequencies above the turn-over frequency, while for nearly linear characteristic waves it is dominated by frequencies below. Observations argue in favour of nearly circular characteristic …
The circular polarisation of gravitational waves from core collapse supernovae has been proposed as a probe to investigate the rotation and physical features inside the core of the supernovae. However, it is still unclear as to how detectable the circular polarisation of gravitational waves will be. We developed an algorithm referred to as the Stokes Circular Polarisation algorithm for the computation of the Stokes parameters that works with the burst search pipeline coherent WaveBurst. Employing the waveform SFHx and the algorithm, we estimate the detectability of the circular polarisation si…
Fast radio busts (FRBs) can exhibit a wide variety of polarisation properties, not only between sources but also from burst to burst for a same one. In this work, we revisit the polarisation characters of coherent curvature radiation from a bulk of charged bunches in the magnetosphere of a highly magnetized neutron star. FRBs have been observed to have a variety of polarisation features, such as high levels of circular polarisation or a sign change of circular polarisation. High linear polarisation would appear when the line of sight is inside the emission beam (the on-beam geometry), whereas …
The RoboPol instrument and the relevant program was developed in order to conduct a systematic study of the optical polarisation variability of blazars. Driven by the discovery that long smooth rotations of the optical polarisation plane can be associated with the activity in other bands and especially in gamma rays, the program was meant to investigate the physical mechanisms causing them and quantify the optical polarisation behaviour in blazars. Over the first three nominal observing seasons (2013, 2014 and 2015) RoboPol detected 40 rotations in 24 blazars by observing a gamma-ray-loud and …
Fast spinning (e.g., sub-second) neutron star with ultra-strong magnetic fields (or so-called magnetar) is one of the promising origins of repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs). Here we discuss circularly polarised emissions produced by propagation effects in the magnetosphere of fast spinning magnetars. We argue that the polarisation-limiting region is well beyond the light cylinder, suggesting that wave mode coupling effects are unlikely to produce strong circular polarisation for fast spinning magnetars. Cyclotron absorption could be significant if the secondary plasma density is high. However…
We investigate the production of circularly polarised X and gamma-ray signals in cosmic accelerators such as supernova remnants and AGN jets. Proton-proton and proton-photon collisions within these sites produce a charge asymmetry in the distribution of mesons and muons that eventually leads to a net circular polarisation signal as these particles decay radiatively. We find that the fraction of circular polarisation thus produced is at the level of $ 5 \times 10^{-4}$, regardless of the exact beam spectrum, as long as it is made predominantly of protons. While this fraction is very small, the …
We analyse the circular polarisation data accumulated in the first 7 years of the POLAMI project introduced in an accompanying paper (Agudo et al.). In the 3mm wavelength band, we acquired more than 2600 observations, and all but one of our 37 sample sources were detected, most of them several times. For most sources, the observed distribution of the degree of circular polarisation is broader than that of unpolarised calibrators, indicating that weak (<0.5%) circular polarisation is present most of the time. Our detection rate and the maximum degree of polarisation found, 2.0%, are comparable …
The radiative decay of neutral fermions has been studied for decades but $CP$ violation induced within such a paradigm has evaded attention. $CP$ violation in these processes can produce an asymmetry between circularly polarised directions of the radiated photons and produces an important source of net circular polarisation in particle and astroparticle physics observables. The results presented in this work outlines the general connection between $CP$ violation and circular polarisation for both Dirac and Majorana fermions and can be used for any class of models that produce such radiative de…
$GRB~160802A$ is one of the brightest gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed with $Fermi$ Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) in the energy range of $10~-~1000$ keV, while at the same time it is surprisingly faint at energies $\gtrsim2$ MeV. An observation with $AstroSat$/CZT Imager (CZTI) also provides the polarisation which helps in constraining different prompt emission models using the novel joint spectra-polarimetric data. We analyze the $Fermi$/GBM data, and find two main bursting episodes that are clearly separated in time, one particularly faint in higher energies and having certain differences in…
The study of anomalous electromagnetic emission in the sky is the basis of indirect searches for dark matter. It is also a powerful tool to constrain the radiative decay of active neutrinos. Until now, quantitative analyses have focused on the flux and energy spectrum of such an emission; polarisation has never been considered. Here we show that we could be missing out on an essential piece of information. The radiative decay of neutrinos, as well as the interactions of dark matter and neutrinos with Standard Model particles can generate a circular polarisation signal in X-rays or γ-rays. If o…
Polarization measurements from relativistic outflows are a valuable tool to probe the geometry of the emission region and the microphysics of the particle distribution. Indeed, the polarization level depends on: (i) the local magnetic field orientation, (ii) the geometry of the emitting region with respect to the line of sight, and (iii) the electron pitch-angle distribution. Here we consider optically thin synchrotron emission and we extend the theory of circular polarization from a point source to an extended radially expanding relativistic jet. We present numerical estimates for both linear…
Conventional indirect dark matter (DM) searches look for an excess in the electromagnetic emission from the sky that cannot be attributed to known astrophysical sources. Here, we argue that the photon polarisation is an important feature to understand new physics interactions and can be exploited to improve our sensitivity to DM. In particular, circular polarisation can be generated from Beyond the Standard Model interactions if they violate parity and there is an asymmetry in the number of particles which participate in the interaction. In this work, we consider a simplified model for fermion…
Recently a data set containing linear and circular polarisation information of a collection of six hundred pulsars has been released. The operative radio wavelength for the same was 21 cm. Pulsars radio emission process is modelled either with synchroton / superconducting self-Compton route or with curvature radiation route. These theories fall short of accounting for the circular polarisation observed, as they are predisposed towards producing, solely, linear polarisation. Here we invoke (pseudo)scalars and their interaction with photons mediated by colossal magnetic fields of pulsars, to acc…
Recently, we have used, pulsar polarisation datasets, on circular polarisation degree & linear polarisation position angle, to relate with well established theories, on ellipticity parameter and linear polarisation position angles, accrued by unpolarised photons, while undergoing photon-ALP oscillations, inside a magnetised medium. This has given us parameter values such as ALP mass and its coupling to photons. To further test this, we now switch to different wavebands, other than earlier 21 cm wavelength, and check for the validity of our model. Here we use two data sets on circular polarisat…
Recently, evidence for synchrotron emission in both black hole and neutron star X-ray binaries has been mounting, from optical/infrared spectral, polarimetric, and fast timing signatures. The synchrotron emission of jets can be highly linearly polarised, depending on the configuration of the magnetic field. Optical and infrared (OIR) polarimetric observations of X-ray binaries are presented in this brief review. The OIR polarimetric signature of relativistic jets is detected at levels of ~ 1-10 %, similar to AGN cores. This reveals that the magnetic geometry in the compact jets may be similar …
Relativistic thermal electrons moving in a large-scale magnetic field can produce synchrotron radiation. Linear synchrotron polarization can also be produced by the relativistic thermal electrons. In this paper, we utilize a hybrid thermal-nonthermal electron energy distribution to calculate circular synchrotron polarization. We further compute the radiative transfer of the synchrotron polarization in the optical and radio bands when we consider the contribution of the thermal electrons. We attempt to apply the polarization results to some astrophysical objects, such as kilonova like AT 2017gf…
The polarisation of sunlight after scattering off the atmosphere was first described by Chandrasekhar using a geometrical description of Rayleigh interactions. Kosowsky later extended Chandrasekhar's formalism by using Quantum Field Theory (QFT) to describe the polarisation of the Cosmological Microwave Background radiation. Here we focus on a case that is rarely discussed in the literature, namely the polarisation of high energy radiation after scattering off particles. After demonstrating why the geometrical and low energy QFT approaches fail in this case, we establish the transport formalis…
We present an updated version of POLARIS, a well established code designated for dust polarisation and line radiative transfer (RT) in arbitrary astrophysical environments. We extend the already available capabilities with a synchrotron feature for polarised emission. Here, we combine state-of-the-art solutions of the synchrotron RT coefficients with numerical methods for solving the complete system of equations of the RT problem, including Faraday rotation (FR) as well as Faraday conversion (FC). We validate the code against Galactic and extragalactic observations by performing a statistical …
The diffuse Galactic synchrotron emission should exhibit a low level of diffuse circular polarization (CP) due to the circular motions of the emitting relativistic electrons. This probes the Galactic magnetic field in a similar way as the product of total Galactic synchrotron intensity times Faraday depth. We use this to construct an all sky prediction of the so far unexplored Galactic CP from existing measurements. This map can be used to search for this CP signal in low frequency radio data even prior to imaging. If detected as predicted, it would confirm the expectation that relativistic el…
We study the optical linear and circular polarisation in the optically-thin regime of the core and jet of M87. Observations were acquired two days before the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) campaign in early April 2017. A high degree ($\sim 20$ per cent) of linear polarisation (P$_{\rm lin}$) is detected in the bright jet knots resolved at $\sim 10\, \rm{arcsec}$ to $23\, \rm{arcsec}$ ($0.8$-$1.8\, \rm{kpc}$) from the centre, whereas the nucleus and inner jet show P$_{\rm lin} \lesssim 5$ per cent. The position angle of the linear polarisation shifts by $\sim 90$ degrees from each knot to the ad…
In this paper we present, for the first time, simulated maps of the circularly polarized synchrotron emission from the Crab nebula, using multidimensional state of the art models for the magnetic field geometry. Synchrotron emission is the signature of non-thermal emitting particles, typical of many high-energy astrophysical sources, both Galactic and extra-galactic ones. Its spectral and polarization properties allow us to infer key informations on the particles distribution function and magnetic field geometry. In recent years our understanding of pulsar wind nebulae has improved substantial…
We consider a synchrotron radiation from a charged particle moving in a bound orbit around a weakly magnetized Schwarzschild black hole (a static black hole immersed into a constant uniform magnetic field) in its equatorial plane, perpendicular to the magnetic field. In particular, we study the case when the Lorentz force acting on the charged particle is directed outward from the black hole. The particle is initially moving in a nongeodesic bound orbit which due to synchrotron radiation decays to a nongeodesic circular orbit. We study this transition and calculate the radiated power and energ…
[Abridged] A number of phenomena have been observed in GRB afterglows that defy explanation by simple versions of the standard fireball model, leading to a variety of new models. Polarimetry can be a major independent diagnostic of afterglow physics, probing the magnetic field properties and internal structure of the GRB jets. In this paper we present the first high quality multi-night polarimetric light curve of a Swift GRB afterglow, aimed at providing a well calibrated dataset of a typical afterglow to serve as a benchmark system for modelling afterglow polarisation behaviour. In particular…
