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Abstract
We investigate the polarization of Compton scattered X-rays from relativistic jets
in active galactic nuclei using Monte Carlo simulations. We consider three scenarios:
scattering of photons from an accretion disk, scattering of cosmic microwave background
(CMB) photons, and synchrotron self-Comptonization (SSC) within the jet. For Comptonization
of thermal disk photons or CMB photons the maximum linear polarization attained is
slightly over 20% at viewing angles close to 90 degrees. The value decreases with
the viewing inclination. For SSC, the maximum value may exceed 80%. The angle dependence
is complicated, and it varies with the photon injection sites. Our study demonstrates
that X-ray polarization, in addition to multi-wavelength spectra, can distinguish
certain models for emission and particle acceleration in relativistic jets.