86 GHz very long baseline polarimetry of 3C 273 and 3C 279 with the coordinated millimeter VLBI array

Very long baseline polarimetry at 86 GHz probes magnetic field structures within the cores of active galactic nuclei at higher angular resolutions and a spectral octave higher than previously achievable. Observations of 3C 273 and 3C 279 taken in 2000 April with the Coordinated Millimeter VLBI Array have resulted in the first total intensity (Stokes I) and linear polarization VLBI images reported of any source at 86 GHz. These results reveal the 86 GHz electric vector position angles within the jets of 3C 273 and 3C 279 to be orthogonal to each other and the core of 3C 273 to be unpolarized. If this lack of polarization is due to Faraday depolarization alone, the dispersion in rotation measure is greater than or similar to 90,000 rad m(-2) for the core of 3C 273.