It has been proposed that active galactic nuclei and quasars are fundamentally similar objects and can be understood within the context of relativistic jets. The difference in observed properties between subgroups of these objects is explained by a difference in viewing angle. Because of relativistic beaming, the jet can be observed only when viewed close to its axis, in which case the object shows properties typical of the class of objects called blazars by Angel and Stockman (1980). The present investigation represents an attempt to determine what can be said about the polarization properties from a relativistic jet without an understanding of the dynamics, taking into account correlations between changes in the degree of polarization and changes in the polarization angle. The Stokes parameters observed from a relativistic moving source emitting synchrotron radiation are calculated using a three-dimensional magnetic field distribution.
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C.-I. Björnsson (1982) studied this question.