Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · astro-ph/0401356

On Multiwavelength Emission of Large-Scale Quasar Jets

L. Stawarz·M. Sikora·M. Ostrowski·M. C. Begelman
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

We discuss morphological properties of the large-scale jets in powerful radio sources, which are now observed at radio, optical and X-ray frequencies, in order to determine the origin of their X-ray radiation and the nature of the particle acceleration responsible for their multiwavelength emission. We show that modeling knots of the these objects as stationary regions of energy dissipation within the uniform and continuous jet flow leads to several problems. Such problems are especially pronounced if the observed X-ray emission is due to inverse-Compton scattering of the CMB radiation. We explore another possibility, namely that the knots represent moving and separate portions of the jet matter, with excess kinetic power. We suggest a possible connection between this scenario and the idea of intermittent/highly modulated jet activity. The proposed model can explain some morphological properties of quasar jets -- like high knot-to-interknot brightness contrasts, frequency-independent knot profiles and almost universal extents of the knot regions -- independently of the exact emission mechanism responsible for producing the X-rays. In this context, we consider different possibilities for the production of such X-ray radiation, and discuss the related issue of particle acceleration. We conclude that the appropriate process cannot be designated for certain yet. We suggest, however, that X-ray observations of the jet in 3C 120 (in which intermittent jet activity is quite distinct) already seem to support the synchrotron origin of the X-ray emission, at least in this object.

Explore related subjects

astro-ph

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

L. Stawarz, M. Sikora, M. Ostrowski, M. C. Begelman. 2004-02-23. On Multiwavelength Emission of Large-Scale Quasar Jets. https://doi.org/10.1086/392502

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2023

Scaling of Black Hole Accretion Discs from Gamma-Ray Bursts and Black Hole X-Ray Binaries to Active Galactic Nuclei

I consider how physical processes scale over eight orders of magnitude in black hole mass, from stellar masses in gamma-ray bursts (GRB) and black-hole X-ray binaries (BHXRB) to supermassive active galactic nuclei (AGN). Accretion rates onto stellar mass black holes range over more than sixteen orders of magnitude, from the lower luminosity BHXRB to GRB. These enormous parameter ranges correspond to qualitative as well as quantitative differences in behavior. The fundamental questions involve the balance between nonequilibrium and thermalized plasmas. When energy fluxes exceed a critical value $\sim 10^{29}$ erg/cm$^2$s, as in GRB, a black-body equilibrium pair plasma forms. At the lower fluxes found in AGN, BHXRB and microquasars, accretion power electrodynamically accelerates a small number of very energetic particles, explaining their non-thermal spectra and the high energy gamma-ray emission of blazars. Ultra-high energy cosmic rays may be accelerated by massive black holes, otherwise undetectable, with very low thermal luminosities. New-born fast high-field pulsars may be in the black-body equilibrium regime, resembling SGR in permanent outburst. I also consider the question, significant for the acceleration of nonthermal particles in GRB outflows, of whether collisionless plasmas interpenetrate rather than forming hydrodynamic shocks, and propose this as an alternative to internal shock models of GRB. A new appendix attempts to explain why AGN are, proportionally, more efficient accelerators of energetic particles than stellar mass black holes.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2022

Two 3-Branes in Randall-Sundrum Setup and Current Acceleration of the Universe

Five-dimensional spacetimes of two orbifold 3-branes are studied, by assuming that {\em the two 3-branes are spatially homogeneous, isotropic, and independent of time}, following the so-called "bulk-based" approach. The most general form of the metric is obtained, and the corresponding field equations are divided into three groups, one is valid on each of the two 3-branes, and the third is valid in the bulk. The Einstein tensor on the 3-branes is expressed in terms of the discontinuities of the first-order derivatives of the metric coefficients. Thus, once the metric is known in the bulk, the distribution of the Einstein tensor on the two 3-branes is uniquely determined. As applications, we consider two different cases, one is in which the bulk is locally $AdS_{5}$, and the other is where it is vacuum. In some cases, it is shown that the universe is first decelerating and then accelerating. The global structure of the bulk as well as the 3-branes is also studied, and found that in some cases the solutions may represent the collision of two orbifold 3-branes. The applications of the formulas to the studies of the cyclic universe and the cosmological constant problem are also pointed out.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2022

A Revolution in Science: the Eclipse Expeditions of 1919

The first direct experimental test of Einstein's theory of general relativity involved a pair of expeditions to measure the bending of light at a total solar eclipse that took place one hundred years ago, on 29 May 1919. So famous is this experiment, and so dramatic was the impact on Einstein himself, that history tends not to recognise the controversy that surrounded the results at the time. In this article, I discuss the experiment in its scientific and historical background context and explain why it was, and is, such an important episode in the development of modern physics.

astro-ph↗