Near-horizon polarized images of a rotating hairy Horndeski black hole

Abstract Recently, Hou et al. [ Astrophys. J. Lett. 988 (2025) L51] revealed that the Electric Vector Position Angle (EVPA) of polarization vectors in the near-horizon images is governed solely by the spacetime geometry and is irrespective of the plasma flows. Here, we generalize the study to the scenario of a rotating hair black hole within the Horndeski gravity and probe the effects of the hairy parameter on the EVPA. For a fixed inclination, the hairy parameter enhances the observed EVPA in the slowly rotating case, but decreases it in the rapidly rotating case. For a fixed black hole spin, the influence of the hairy parameter on the observed EVPA under different observer inclinations is further modulated by the azimuthal angle of the observed polarization vector. The hairy parameter's impact is more distinct in the low inclination case as the azimuthal angle lies within a specific range, but is almost independent of the observer inclination as the azimuthal angle is beyond this specific range. Furthermore, the dependence of the hairy parameter's impact on the EVPA is stronger with respect to the black hole spin than to the inclination angle. These results could help to further understand the near-horizon polarized images and Horndeski gravity.