Energy-Dependent Polarization Angle Variability as a Robust Diagnostic for Blazar Flaring Mechanisms

Abstract

Identifying the physical mechanism driving blazar flares remains a central challenge in high-energy astrophysics. We show that the energy dependence of the standard deviation of the polarization angle variability ($\sigma_\text{PA}$) provides a powerful and robust discriminator of blazar flaring mechanisms. Using particle-in-cell-integrated polarized radiative transfer simulations, we perform to-date the most rigorous statistical analyses of polarization variability. We demonstrate that magnetic reconnection and magnetized turbulence imprint qualitatively distinct energy dependence of $\sigma_\text{PA}$ that directly reflect their different magnetic field evolution and particle transport. Reconnection predicts higher $\sigma_\text{PA}$ with higher photon energy till the synchrotron spectral peak, whereas turbulence produces nearly flat $\sigma_\text{PA}$ across the synchrotron spectral component. These trends are resilient to realistic observational limitations. Applying our results to optical and IXPE data of Mrk~421 and 1ES~1959+650, we find strong evidence for reconnection-driven flares embedded in a turbulent blazar zone. Energy-dependent $\sigma_\text{PA}$ emerges as a decisive new probe of particle acceleration in relativistic jets.