We present {\tt radpol} - a numerical scheme for integrating multifrequency polarized radiative transfer equations along rays propagating in a curved spacetime. The scheme includes radiative processes such as synchrotron emission, absorption, Faraday rotation and conversion, and, for the first time, relativistic Compton scatterings including effects of light polarization. The scheme is fully covariant and is applicable to model radio-$γ$-ray emission and its polarization from, e.g., relativistic jets and accretion flows onto black holes and other exotic objects described in alternative metric theories and modeled semi-analytically or with time-dependent magnetohydrodynamical simulations. We perform a few tests to validate the implemented numerical algorithms that handle light polarization in curved spacetime. We demonstrate application of the scheme to model broadband emission spectra from a relativistically hot, geometrically thick coronal-like inflow around a supermassive black hole where the disk model is realized in a general relativistic magnetohydrodynamical simulation.
The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of some blazars exhibit an ultraviolet (UV) and/or soft X-ray excess, which can be modelled with different radiation mechanisms. Polarization measurements of the UV/X-ray emission from blazars may provide new and unique information about the astrophysical environment of blazar jets, and could thus help to distinguish between different emission scenarios. In this paper, a new Monte-Carlo code -- MAPPIES (Monte-Carlo Applications for Partially Polarized Inverse External-Compton Scattering) -- for polarization-dependent Compton scattering is used to simula…
Contents: Some Fundamental definitions; Bremsstrahlung and black body; Beaming; Synchrotron emission and absorption; Compton scattering; Synchrotron Self-Compton; Pairs; Active Galactic Nuclei.
A covariant scattering kernel is a core component in any self-consistent general relativistic radiative transfer formulation in scattering media. An explicit closed-form expression for a covariant Compton scattering kernel with a good dynamical energy range has unfortunately not been available thus far. Such an expression is essential to obtain numerical solutions to the general relativistic radiative transfer equations in complicated astrophysical settings where strong scattering effects are coupled with highly relativistic flows and steep gravitational gradients. Moreover, this must be perfo…
We describe HEROIC, an upgraded version of the relativistic radiative post-processor code HERO described in a previous paper, but which now Includes Comptonization. HEROIC models Comptonization via the Kompaneets equation, using a quadratic approximation for the source function in the short characteristics radiation solver. It employs a simple form of accelerated lambda iteration to handle regions of high scattering opacity. In addition to solving for the radiation field, HEROIC also solves for the gas temperature by applying the condition of radiative equilibrium. We present benchmarks and te…
We consider the radiative transfer problem in a plane-parallel slab of thermal electrons in the presence of an overcritical magnetic field. Under such conditions, the magnetic field behaves as a birefringent medium for the propagating photons, and the electromagnetic radiation is split into two polarization modes, ordinary and extraordinary, having different cross-sections. When the optical depth of the slab is large, the ordinary-mode photons are strongly Comptonized and the photon field is dominated by an isotropic component. The radiative transfer problem in strong magnetic fields presents …
We present a fully analytical, time-dependent leptonic one-zone model that describes a simplified radiation process of multiple interacting ultrarelativistic electron populations, accounting for the flaring of GeV blazars. In this model, several mono-energetic, ultrarelativistic electron populations are successively and instantaneously injected into the emission region, i.e., a magnetized plasmoid propagating along the blazar jet, and subjected to linear, time-independent synchrotron radiative losses, which are caused by a constant magnetic field, and nonlinear, time-dependent synchrotron self…
Accreting supermassive black holes are sources of polarized radiation that propagates through highly curved spacetime before reaching the observer. In order to help interpret observations of such polarized emission, accurate and efficient numerical schemes for polarized radiative transfer in curved spacetime are needed. In this manuscript we extend our publicly available radiative transfer code RAPTOR to include polarization. We provide a brief review of different codes and methods for covariant polarized radiative transfer available in the literature and existing codes, and present an efficie…
We derive the relativistic kinetic equation for Compton scattering of polarized radiation in strong magnetic field using the Bogolyubov method. The induced scattering and the Pauli exclusion principle are taken into account. The electron polarization is also considered in the general form of the kinetic equation. The special forms of the equation for the cases of the non-polarized electrons, the rarefied electron gas and the two polarization mode description of radiation are found. The derived equations are valid for any photon and electron energies and the magnetic field strength below about …
In this work, according to some evidence from being an asymmetry in the number density of left and right-handed electrons, $δ_L$, in-universe motivate us to calculate the dominated contribution of this asymmetry in the generation of B-mode power spectrum $C_{ B\,l}^{(S)}$. Note, in the standard cosmological scenario, Compton scattering in the presence of scalar matter perturbation can not generate magnetic like pattern in linear polarization while in the case of polarized Compton scattering, we have shown $C_{B\,l}^{(S)}\propto δ_L^2$. We add up the spectrum of the B-mode generated by the pola…
The standard scenario of cosmology predicts a measurable amount for linear polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB) via Thomson scattering, while through this scenario, the generation of circular polarization is excluded. On the another hand, the circular polarization of CMB has not been excluded in observational evidence. The generation of CMB photons circular polarization via their Compton scattering with polarized cosmic electrons is considered in this paper. Our motivation for considering polarized Compton scattering comes from the effects of the external magnetic fi…
We briefly summarize the method of simulating Sgr A* polarized sub-mm spectra from the accretion flow and fitting the observed spectrum. The dynamical flow model is based on three-dimensional general relativistic magneto hydrodynamic simulations. Fully self-consistent radiative transfer of polarized cyclo-synchrotron emission is performed. We compile a mean sub-mm spectrum of Sgr A* and fit it with the mean simulated spectra. We estimate the ranges of inclination angle theta=42-75deg, mass accretion rate Mdot=(1.4-7.0)*10^{-8}Msun/yr, and electron temperature Te=(3-4)*10^{10}K at 6M. We discus…
Inverse Compton scattering (ICS) is an elemental radiation process that produces high-energy photons both in nature and in the laboratory. Non-linear ICS is a process in which multiple photons are converted to a single high-energy photon. Here, we theoretically show that the photon produced by non-linear ICS of circularly polarized photons is a vortex, which means that it possesses a helical wave front and carries orbital angular momentum. Our work explains a recent experimental result regarding non-linear Compton scattering that clearly shows an annular intensity distribution as a remarkable …
We describe ${\tt ipole}$, a new public ray-tracing code for covariant, polarized radiative transport. The code extends the ${\tt ibothros}$ scheme for covariant, unpolarized transport using two representations of the polarized radiation field: in the coordinate frame, it parallel transports the coherency tensor; in the frame of the plasma it evolves the Stokes parameters under emission, absorption, and Faraday conversion. The transport step is implemented to be as spacetime- and coordinate- independent as possible. The emission, absorption, and Faraday conversion step is implemented using an …
We perform two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of reconnection in magnetically-dominated pair plasmas subject to strong Compton cooling. Reconnection under such conditions operates in accretion disk coronae around black holes, which produce hard X-rays through Comptonization. Our simulations show that most of the plasma in the reconnection layer is kept cold by Compton losses and locked in magnetically-dominated plasmoids with small thermal pressure. Compton drag clears cavities inside plasmoids and affects their bulk motions. These effects, however, weakly change the recon…
KPolaris: GPU-accelerated Polarized Radiative Transfer in General Relativity
School of Physical Science and Technology, Ningbo University（宁波大学物理科学与技术学院）；BINGO Center, Ningbo University（宁波大学BINGO中心）；Center for High Energy Physics, Peking University（北京大学高能物理中心）
Unification Model of Active Galactic Nuclei by Photoionization Equilibrium Calculation Based on Radiative Hydrodynamic Simulations
Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Kagoshima University（鹿儿岛大学理工学研究科）；Research Center for Space and Cosmic Evolution, Ehime University（爱媛大学宇宙 evolution 研究中心）；Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University（北海道大学理学部）；Astronomical Institute, Tohoku University（东北大学天文学研究所）；Faculty of Natural Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Kure College（国立神户高等专门学校自然科学学部）；Graduate School of Science and Technology, Hirosaki University（弘前大学理工学研究科）；Department of Earth and Space Science, The University of Osaka（大阪大学地球空间科学系）
Based on two-dimensional high resolution hydrodynamic numerical simulation, we study the mechanical and radiative feedback effects from the central AGN on the cosmological evolution of an isolated elliptical galaxy. Physical processes such as star formation and supernovae are considered. The inner boundary of the simulation domain is carefully chosen so that the fiducial Bondi radius is resolved and the accretion rate of the black hole is determined self-consistently. In analogy to previous works, we assume that the specific angular momentum of the galaxy is low. It is well-known that when the…
We discuss the problem of polarized radiative transfer in general relativity. We present a set of equations suitable for solving the problem numerically for the case of an arbitrary space-time metric, and show numerical solutions to example problems. The solutions are computed with a new ray-tracing code, Arcmancer, developed by the authors.
The rising amount of polarized observations of relativistic sources requires the correct theory for proper model fitting. The equations for general relativistic (GR) polarized radiative transfer are derived starting from the Boltzmann equation and basic ideas of general relativity. The derivation is aimed at providing a practical guide to reproducing the synchrotron part of radio & sub-mm emission from low luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs), in particular Sgr A*, and jets. The recipe for fast exact calculation of cyclo-synchrotron emissivities, absorptivities, Faraday rotation and conv…
Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations have shown that relativistic collisionless magnetic reconnection drives nonthermal particle acceleration (NTPA), potentially explaining high-energy (X-ray/$γ$-ray) synchrotron and/or inverse Compton (IC) radiation observed from various astrophysical sources. The radiation back-reaction force on radiating particles has been neglected in most of these simulations, even though radiative cooling considerably alters particle dynamics in many astrophysical environments where reconnection may be important. We present a radiative PIC study examining the effects of ex…
We construct a numerical model of emission from minijets, localized flows driven by magnetic reconnection inside Poynting-flux-dominated jets proposed to explain the ultrafast variability of blazars. The geometrical structure of the model consists of two wedge-like regions of relativistically flowing gas, separated by a stationary shock. The dynamics is based on solutions of relativistic magnetic reconnection with a guide field from Lyubarsky (2005). Electron distributions in each region are chosen to the match the pressure and density of the local plasma. Synchrotron emission from both region…
Many relativistic plasma environments in high-energy astrophysics, including pulsar wind nebulae, hot accretion flows onto black holes, relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts, and giant radio lobes, are naturally turbulent. The plasma in these environments is often so hot that synchrotron and inverse-Compton (IC) radiative cooling becomes important. In this paper we investigate the general thermodynamic and radiative properties (and hence the observational appearance) of an optically thin relativistically hot plasma stirred by driven magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulen…
