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Main Authors: Glykopoulou, Anastasia, Liodakis, Ioannis, Blinov, Dmitry
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.18955
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author Glykopoulou, Anastasia
Liodakis, Ioannis
Blinov, Dmitry
author_facet Glykopoulou, Anastasia
Liodakis, Ioannis
Blinov, Dmitry
contents We present an automated pipeline for the detection of EVPA rotations in blazars, integrating correction of the 180$^\circ$ ambiguity, Bayesian Blocks segmentation, and statistical validation. Applied to RoboPol monitoring data, the method identified 48 rotations across 25 sources, including multiple events in RBPLJ2232+1143, RBPLJ1751+0939, RBPLJ1800+7828, and RBPLJ2253+1608. The rotations span amplitudes from 90.8$^\circ$ to 359.7$^\circ$, durations between 7.0 and 111.3 days, and rotation rates averaging 5.0$^\circ$/day. Comparison with previous catalogs reveals systematic differences: Bayesian Blocks rotations are on average $\sim$10\% larger in amplitude, about twice as long in duration, and roughly two-thirds slower in angular velocity, reflecting systematic biases between adaptive binning and manual segmentation. In addition, we report 27 previously unreported rotations, including 11 from the final 2016--2017 season. A correlation analysis with contemporaneous Fermi--LAT $γ$-ray light curves shows that longer rotations tend to coincide with enhanced $γ$-ray activity, while rotation amplitude alone is not predictive of $γ$-ray brightness. Our pipeline minimizes subjective biases, expands the list of known EVPA rotations, and provides a reproducible framework for future multiwavelength studies of blazar jet dynamics and particle acceleration.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_18955
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Automating the detection of polarization angle rotations in blazars. Re-analysis of RoboPol data reveals 27 new rotations
Glykopoulou, Anastasia
Liodakis, Ioannis
Blinov, Dmitry
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
We present an automated pipeline for the detection of EVPA rotations in blazars, integrating correction of the 180$^\circ$ ambiguity, Bayesian Blocks segmentation, and statistical validation. Applied to RoboPol monitoring data, the method identified 48 rotations across 25 sources, including multiple events in RBPLJ2232+1143, RBPLJ1751+0939, RBPLJ1800+7828, and RBPLJ2253+1608. The rotations span amplitudes from 90.8$^\circ$ to 359.7$^\circ$, durations between 7.0 and 111.3 days, and rotation rates averaging 5.0$^\circ$/day. Comparison with previous catalogs reveals systematic differences: Bayesian Blocks rotations are on average $\sim$10\% larger in amplitude, about twice as long in duration, and roughly two-thirds slower in angular velocity, reflecting systematic biases between adaptive binning and manual segmentation. In addition, we report 27 previously unreported rotations, including 11 from the final 2016--2017 season. A correlation analysis with contemporaneous Fermi--LAT $γ$-ray light curves shows that longer rotations tend to coincide with enhanced $γ$-ray activity, while rotation amplitude alone is not predictive of $γ$-ray brightness. Our pipeline minimizes subjective biases, expands the list of known EVPA rotations, and provides a reproducible framework for future multiwavelength studies of blazar jet dynamics and particle acceleration.
title Automating the detection of polarization angle rotations in blazars. Re-analysis of RoboPol data reveals 27 new rotations
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.18955