arXiv subjects

Curtis J. Saxton

Publications and source records attributed to Curtis J. Saxton.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2002

Complex shock structure in the western hot-spot of Pictor A

We have carried out simulations of supersonic light jets in order to model the features observed in optical and radio images of the western hot-spot in the radio galaxy Pictor A. We have considered jets with density ratios eta=1e-2 - 1e-4, and Mach numbers ranging between 5 and 50. From each simulation, we have generated ray-traced maps of radio surface brightness at a variety of jet inclinations, in order to study the appearance of time-dependent luminous structures in the vicinity of the western hot-spot. We compare these rendered images with observed features of Pictor A. A remarkable feature of Pictor A observations is a bar-shaped "filament" inclined almost at right angles to the inferred jet direction and extending 24" (10.8 /h kpc) along its longest axis. The constraints of reproducing the appearance of this structure in simulations indicate that the jet of Pictor A lies nearly in the plane of the sky. The results of the simulation are also consistent with other features found in the radio image of Pictor A. This filament arises from the surging behaviour of the jet near the hot-spot; the surging is provoked by alternate compression and decompression of the jet by the turbulent backflow in the cocoon. We also examine the arguments for the jet in Pictor A being at a more acute angle to the line of sight and find that our preferred orientation is just consistent with the limits on the brightness ratio of the X-ray jet and counter-jet. We determine from our simulations, the structure function of hot-spot brightness and also the cumulative distribution of the ratio of intrinsic hot-spot brightnesses. The latter may be used to quantify the use of hot-spot ratios for the estimation of relativistic effects.

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arXiv2002

Effects of lower boundary conditions on the stability of radiative shocks

Thermal instabilities can cause a radiative shock to oscillate, thereby modulating the emission from the post-shock region. The mode frequencies are approximately quantised in analogy to those of a vibrating pipe. The stability properties depend on the cooling processes, the electron-ion energy exchange and the boundary conditions. This paper considers the effects of the lower boundary condition on the post-shock flow, both ideally and for some specific physical models. Specific cases include constant perturbed velocity, pressure, density, flow rate, or temperature at the lower boundary, and the situation with nonzero stationary flow velocity at the lower boundary. It is found that for cases with zero terminal stationary velocity, the stability properties are insensitive to the perturbed hydrodynamic variables at the lower boundary. The luminosity responses are generally dependent on the lower boundary condition.

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arXiv2001

The Centaurus A Northern Middle Lobe as a Buoyant Bubble

We model the northern middle radio lobe of Centaurus A (NGC 5128) as a buoyant bubble of plasma deposited by an intermittently active jet. The extent of the rise of the bubble and its morphology imply that the ratio of its density to that of the surrounding ISM is less than 10^{-2}, consistent with our knowledge of extragalactic jets and minimal entrainment into the precursor radio lobe. Using the morphology of the lobe to date the beginning of its rise through the atmosphere of Centaurus A, we conclude that the bubble has been rising for approximately 140Myr. This time scale is consistent with that proposed by Quillen et al. (1993) for the settling of post-merger gas into the presently observed large scale disk in NGC 5128, suggesting a strong connection between the delayed re-establishment of radio emission and the merger of NGC 5128 with a small gas-rich galaxy. This suggests a connection, for radio galaxies in general, between mergers and the delayed onset of radio emission. In our model, the elongated X-ray emission region discovered by Feigelson et al. (1981), part of which coincides with the northern middle lobe, is thermal gas that originates from the ISM below the bubble and that has been uplifted and compressed. The "large-scale jet" appearing in the radio images of Morganti et al. (1999) may be the result of the same pressure gradients that cause the uplift of the thermal gas, acting on much lighter plasma, or may represent a jet that did not turn off completely when the northern middle lobe started to buoyantly rise. We propose that the adjacent emission line knots (the "outer filaments") and star-forming regions result from the disturbance, in particular the thermal trunk, caused by the bubble moving through the extended atmosphere of NGC 5128.

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arXiv2001

Stability analyses of two-temperature radiative shocks: formulation, eigenfunctions, luminosity response and boundary conditions

We present a general formulation for stability analyses of radiative shocks with multiple cooling processes, longitudinal and transverse perturbations, and unequal electron and ion temperatures. Using the accretion shocks of magnetic cataclysmic variables as an illustrative application, we investigate the shock instabilities by examining the eigenfunctions of the perturbed hydrodynamic variables. We also investigate the effects of varying the condition at the lower boundary of the post-shock flow from a zero-velocity fixed wall to several alternative type of boundaries involving the perturbed hydrodynamic variables, and the variations of the emission from the post-shock flow under different modes of oscillations. We found that the stability properties for flow with a stationary-wall lower boundary are not significantly affected by perturbing the lower boundary condition, and they are determined mainly by the energy-transport processes. Moreover, there is no obvious correlation between the amplitude or phase of the luminosity response and the stability properties of the system. Stability of the system can, however, be modified in the presence of transverse perturbation. The luminosity responses are also altered by transverse perturbation.

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arXiv1999

Perturbative Analysis of Two-Temperature Radiative Shocks with Multiple Cooling Processes

The structure of the hot downstream region below a radiative accretion shock, such as that of an accreting compact object, may oscillate due to a global thermal instability. The oscillatory behaviour depends on the functional forms of the cooling processes, the energy exchanges of electrons and ions in the shock-heated matter, and the boundary conditions. We analyse the stability of a shock with unequal electron and ion temperatures, where the cooling consists of thermal bremsstrahlung radiation which promotes instability, plus a competing process which tends to stabilize the shock. The effect of transverse perturbations is considered also. As an illustration, we study the special case in which the stabilizing cooling process is of order 3/20 in density and 5/2 in temperature, which is an approximation for the effects of cyclotron cooling in magnetic cataclysmic variables. We vary the efficiency of the second cooling process, the strength of the electron-ion exchange and the ratio of electron and ion pressures at the shock, to examine particular effects on the stability properties and frequencies of oscillation modes.

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