2014MNRAS.445..301V

We apply the time evolution of grain size distributions through accretion and coagulation found in our previous work to the modelling of the wavelength dependence of interstellar linear polarization. We focus in particular on the parameters of the Serkowski curve K and λmax, characterizing the width and maximum wavelength of this curve, respectively. We use aligned silicate and non-aligned carbonaceous spheroidal particles with different aspect ratios a/b. The imperfect alignment of grains with sizes larger than a cut-off size rV, cut is considered. We find that the evolutionary effects on the polarization curve are negligible in the original model with commonly used material parameters (hydrogen number density nH = 10³/cm3, gas temperature Tgas = 10 K and sticking probability for accretion Sacc = 0.3). Therefore, we apply the tuned model, where the coagulation threshold of silicate is removed. In this model, λmax displaces to longer wavelengths and the polarization curve becomes wider (K reduces) on time-scales ∼ (30-50)(nH/103/cm3)-1 Myr. The tuned models at T \lesssim 30 (n_H/10^3 cm^-3)^-1 Myr and different values of the parameters rV, cut can also explain the observed trend between K and λmax. It is significant that the evolutionary effect appears in the perpendicular direction to the effect of rV, cut on the K - λmax diagram. Very narrow polarization curves can be reproduced if we change the type of particles (prolate/oblate) and/or vary a/b.