Characteristics of the variable polarized emission of active galactic nuclei at centimeter wavelengths

Observations made at 4.8, 8.0, and 14.5 GHz demonstrate that active radio galaxies show the highest amplitude variability with the shortest time scales at higher frequencies. The variability of many objects below 10 GHz are found to be reduced by self-absorption effects, and outbursts as short as one week have been noted at 14.5 GHz. It is suggested that the polarization position angles are often related to the orientation of the jet-like structures in the objects. Results indicate that emissions in the optical and spectral regions are related but do not emanate from the same physical region. 6 references