Optical polarimetry of PKS 2155 - 304 and constraints on accretion disk models for BL Lacertae objects

Optical broad-band polarimetry and photometry of the BL Lacertae object PKS 2155 - 304 during late 1990 are presented. Variability in both flux and linear polarization was moderate during this period. The optical polarization ranged from 2 to 7 percent while photometric variations were within 0.2 mag (V = 13.2-13.4). Accurate multicolor measurements were made to study any wavelength dependence of the polarization with an eye to using these data to test the model of Wandel and Urry (1991) which proposes that the UV to soft X-ray continuum of this object arises from an accretion disk. Wavelength-dependent polarization (WDP) is observed in PKS 2155 - 304. However, the polarization is always seen to decrease with wavelength when WDP is observed. This is opposite to the expected sense of WDP if the UV continuum is dominated by an accretion disk.