arXiv subjects

Paul J. Wiita

Publications and source records attributed to Paul J. Wiita.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays from Centaurus A: Jet Interaction with Gaseous Shells

Ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), with energies above ~6 x 10^19 eV, seem to show a weak correlation with the distribution of matter relatively near to us in the universe. It has earlier been proposed that UHECRs could be accelerated in either the nucleus or the outer lobes of the nearby radio galaxy Cen A. We show that UHECR production at a spatially intermediate location about 15 kpc northeast from the nucleus, where the jet emerging from the nucleus is observed to strike a large star-forming shell of gas, is a plausible alternative. A relativistic jet is capable of accelerating lower-energy heavy seed cosmic rays (CRs) to UHECRs on timescales comparable to the time it takes the jet to pierce the large gaseous cloud. In this model many CRs arising from a starburst, with a composition enhanced in heavy elements near the knee region around PeV, are boosted to ultra-high energies by the relativistic shock of a newly oriented jet. This model matches the overall spectrum shown by the Auger data and also makes a prediction for the chemical composition as a function of particle energy. We thus predict an observable anisotropy in the composition at high energy in the sense that lighter nuclei should preferentially be seen toward the general direction of Cen A. Taking into consideration the magnetic field models for the Galactic disk and a Galactic magnetic wind, this scenario may resolve the discrepancy between HiRes and Auger results concerning the chemical composition of UHECRs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2010

Detection of Intra-day Variability Timescales of Four High Energy Peaked Blazars with XMM-Newton

We selected a sample of 24 XMM-Newton light curves (LCs) of four high energy peaked blazars, PKS 0548-322, ON 231, 1ES 1426+428 and PKS 2155-304. These data comprise continuous light curves of 7.67h to 18.97h in length. We searched for possible quasi-periodic oscillations (QPO) and intra-day variability (IDV) timescales in the LCs of these blazars. We found a likely QPO in one LC of PKS 2155-304 which was reported elsewhere (Lachowicz et al. 2009). In the remaining 23 LCs we found hints of possible weak QPOs in one LC of each of ON 231 and PKS 2155-304, but neither is statistically significant. We found IDV timescales that ranged from 15.7 ks to 46.8 ks in 8 LCs. In 13 LCs any variability timescales were longer than the length of the data. Assuming the possible weak QPO periods in the blazars PKS 2155-304 and ON 231 are real and are associated with the innermost portions of their accretion disk, we can estimate that their central black hole masses exceed 1.2 $\times$ 10$^{7}$ M$_{\odot}$. Emission models for radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) that could explain our results are briefly discussed.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Probing spectral properties of radio-quiet quasars searched for optical microvariability

We obtained SDSS spectra for a set of 37 radio-quiet quasars (RQQSOs) that had been previously examined for rapid small scale optical variations, or microvariability. Their H-beta and Mg II emission lines were carefully fit to determine line widths (FWHM) as well as equivalent widths (EW) due to the broad emission line components. The line widths were used to estimate black hole masses and Eddington ratios, ell. Both EW and FWHM are anticorrelated with ell. The EW distributions provide no evidence for the hypothesis that a weak jet component in the RQQSOs is responsible for their microvariability.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Short Term Flux and Colour Variations in Low-Energy Peaked Blazars

We have measured multi-band optical flux and colour variations for a sample of 12 low energy peaked blazars on short, day-to-month, timescales. Our sample contains six BL Lacertae objects and six flat spectrum radio quasars. These photometric observations, made during September 2008 to June 2009, used five optical telescopes, one in India and four in Bulgaria. We detected short term flux variations in eleven of these blazars and colour variability in eight of them. Our data indicate that six blazars (3C 66A, AO 0235+164, S5 0716+714, PKS 0735+178, OJ 287 and 3C 454.3) were observed in pre- or post-outburst states, that five (PKS 0420-014, 4C 29.45, 3C 279, PKS 1510-089 and BL Lac) were in a low state, while one (3C 273) was in an essentially steady state. The duty cycles for flux and colour variations on short timescales in these low energy peaked blazars are ~ 92 percent and ~ 33 percent, respectively. The colour vs magnitude correlations seen here support the hypothesis that BL Lac objects tend to become bluer with increase in brightness; however, flat spectrum radio quasars may show the opposite trend, and there are exceptions to these trends in both categories of blazar. We briefly discuss emission models for active galactic nuclei that might explain our results.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Optical variability of radio-intermediate quasars

We report the results of our intensive intranight optical monitoring of 8 `radio-intermediate quasars' (RIQs) having flat or inverted radio spectra. The monitoring was carried out in {\it R-} band on 25 nights during 2005-09. An intranight optical variability (INOV) detection threshold of $\sim$ 1--2% was achieved for the densely sampled differential light curves (DLCs). These observations amount to a large increase over those reported hitherto for this rare and sparsely studied class of quasars which can, however, play an important role in understanding the link between the dominant varieties of powerful AGN, namely the radio-quiet quasars (RQQs), radio-loud quasars (RLQs) and blazars. Despite the probable presence of relativistically boosted nuclear jets, clear evidence for INOV in our extensive observations was detected only on one night. These results demonstrate that as a class, RIQs are much less extreme in nuclear activity compared to blazars. The availability in the literature of INOV data for another 2 RIQs conforming to our selection criteria allowed us to enlarge the sample to 10 RIQs (monitored on a total of 42 nights for a minimum duration of $\sim 4$ hours per night). The absence of large amplitude INOV $(ψ> 3%)$ persists in this enlarged sample. This extensive database has enabled us to arrive at the first estimate for the INOV Duty Cycle (DC) of RIQs. The DC is found to be small ($\sim$ 9%). The corresponding value is known to be $\sim 60%$ for BL Lacs and $\approx 15%$ for RLQs and RQQs. On longer-term, the RIQs are found to be fairly variable with typical amplitudes of $\approx$ 0.1-mag. The light curves of these RIQs are briefly discussed in the context of a theoretical framework proposed earlier for linking this rare kind of quasars to the much better studied dominant classes of quasars.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

A Quasi-Periodic Oscillation of ~ 30 Minutes in the X-ray Light Curve of the BL Lac S5 0716+714

We withdraw our claim that a component in an XMM-Newton satellite light curve of the BL Lacertae object S5 0716 + 714 shows quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) of $\sim$30 minutes. Although both our original periodogram and wavelet analyses gave consistent results, the data do not lead to a statistically significant result once red-noise at low frequencies is properly taken into account for periodogram analyses.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

The changing ISM of massive elliptical galaxies and cosmic evolution of radio galaxies and quasars

The recently discovered apparent dramatic expansion in the effective radii of massive elliptical galaxies from $z \simeq 2$ to $z \simeq 0.1$ has been interpreted in terms of either galaxy mergers or the rapid loss of cold gas due to AGN feedback. In examining the latter case we have quantified the extent of the expansion, which is uncertain observationally, in terms of the star formation parameters and time of the expulsion of the cold gas. In either case, the large global decrease in stellar density should translate into a major drop in the ISM density and pressure, and a much steeper radial decline in those quantities with cosmic epoch. These cosmological changes are expected to have a major influence on the gas accretion mode, which will shift from `cold' thin disk accretion at high redshifts toward `hot' Bondi fed ADAF accretion at low redshifts. The decline of angular momentum inflow would then lead to a spin down of the black hole, for which we have calculated more precise time scales; a value of about 0.2 Gyr is typical for a $10^9 M_\odot$ central black hole. These results have implications for the different cosmological evolutionary patterns found for the luminosity functions of powerful and weak radio galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Nearly Periodic Fluctuations in the Long Term X-ray Light Curves of the Blazars AO 0235+164 and 1ES 2321+419

We have performed a structure function analysis of the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer All Sky Monitor data to search for variability in 24 blazars using data trains that each exceed 12 years. Although 20 of them show nominal periods though this technique, the great majority of these `periods' are clearly related to yearly variations arising from the instrument.Nonetheless, an apparently real periodic component of about 17 days was detected for the blazar AO 0235+164 and it was confirmed by discrete correlation function and periodogram analyses. For 1ES 2321+419 a component of variability with a near periodicity of about 420 days was detected by all of these methods. We discuss several possible explanations for these nearly periodic components and conclude that they most likely arise from the intersections of a shock propagating down a relativistic jet that possesses a helical structure.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

An Explicit Scheme for Incorporating Ambipolar Diffusion in a Magnetohydrodynamics Code

We describe a method for incorporating ambipolar diffusion in the strong coupling approximation into a multidimensional magnetohydrodynamics code based on the total variation diminishing scheme. Contributions from ambipolar diffusion terms are included by explicit finite difference operators in a fully unsplit way, maintaining second order accuracy. The divergence-free condition of magnetic fields is exactly ensured at all times by a flux-interpolated constrained transport scheme. The super time stepping method is used to accelerate the timestep in high resolution calculations and/or in strong ambipolar diffusion. We perform two test problems, the steady-state oblique C-type shocks and the decay of Alfvén waves, confirming the accuracy and robustness of our numerical approach. Results from the simulations of the compressible MHD turbulence with ambipolar diffusion show the flexibility of our method as well as its ability to follow complex MHD flows in the presence of ambipolar diffusion. These simulations show that the dissipation rate of MHD turbulence is strongly affected by the strength of ambipolar diffusion.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Radio Properties of Low Redshift Broad Line Active Galactic Nuclei

The question as to whether the distribution of radio-loudness in active galactic nuclei (AGN) is actually bimodal has been discussed extensively in the literature. Futhermore, there have been claims that radio-loudness depends on black hole mass and Eddington ratio. We investigate these claims using the low redshift broad line AGN sample of Greene & Ho (2007), which consists of 8434 objects at z < 0.35 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Fourth Data Release (SDSS DR4). We obtained radio fluxes from the Very Large Array Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters (FIRST) survey for the SDSS AGN. Out of the 8434 SDSS AGN, 821 have corresponding observed radio fluxes in the FIRST survey. We calculated the radio-loudness parameter (R) for all objects above the FIRST detection limit (1 mJy), and an upper limit to R for the undetected objects. Using these data, the question of radio bimodality is investigated for different subsets of the total sample. We find no clear demarcation between the radio-loud (RL, R > 10) and radio-quiet (RQ, R < 10) objects, but instead fill in a more radio-intermediate population in a continuous fashion for all subsamples. We find that 4.7% of the AGN in the flux-limited subsample are RL based on core radio emission alone. We calculate the radio-loud fraction (RLF) as both a function of black hole mass and Eddington ratio. The RLF decreases (from 13% to 2%) as Eddington ratio increases over 2.5 order of magnitude. The RLF is nearly constant (~5%) over 4 decades in black hole mass, except for an increase at masses greater than 10^8 solar masses. We find for the FIRST detected subsample that 367 of the RL AGN have black hole masses less than 10^8 solar masses, a large enough number to indicate that RL AGN are not a product of only the most massive black holes in the local universe.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Periodic Oscillations in the Intra-day Optical Light Curves of the Blazar S5 0716+714

We present results of a periodicity search of 20 intra-day variable optical light curves of the blazar S5 0716+714, selected from a database of 102 light curves spanning over three years. We use a wavelet analysis technique along with a randomization test and find strong candidates for nearly periodic variations in eight light curves, with probabilities ranging from 95% to >99%. This is the first good evidence for periodic, or more-precisely, quasi-periodic, components in the optical intra-day variable light curves of any blazar. Such periodic flux changes support the idea that some active galactic nuclei variability, even in blazars, is based on accretion disk fluctuations or oscillations. These intra-day variability time scales are used to estimate that the central black hole of the blazar S5 0716+714 has a mass > 2.5 \times 10^6$ M$_{\odot}$. As we did not find any correlations between the flux levels and intra-day variability time scales, it appears that more than one emission mechanism is at work in this blazar.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Superdisks and the structural asymmetry of radio galaxies

We present a sample of 16 radio galaxies, each of which is characterized by a wide, elongated emission gap with fairly sharp and straight edges between the two radio lobes. This particular subset of the 'superdisk' radio galaxies is chosen because of a highly asymmetric location of the host elliptical galaxy relative to the gap's central axis. In addition to posing a considerable challenge to the existing models, such a morphology also means that the two jets traverse highly unequal distances through the superdisk material. One thus has a possibility to directly investigate if the marked asymmetry between the two jets' interaction with the (much denser) ambient medium, during their propagation, has a significant import for the brightness of the hotspot forming near each jet's extremity. We also propose a new explanation for the formation of superdisks through the merger of a smaller elliptical galaxy with the massive host, in which the gas attached to the infalling galaxy deposits its angular momentum into the host's circumgalactic gas, thereby causing it to flatten into a fat pancake, or superdisk. The asymmetric location of the host galaxy can be assisted by the kick imparted to it during the merger. We also suggest a physical link between these radio galaxies and those with X-shaped and Z-symmetric radio lobes, commonly believed to arise from mergers of two galactic nuclei, each harboring a supermassive black hole.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Stellar Disruption and the Quasar Radio Dichotomy

The origin of the dichotomy of radio loudness among quasars can be explained using recent findings that the mass of the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) in extended radio-loud quasars is systematically a few times that of their counterparts in radio-quiet quasars. This sensitive dependence of radio jet ejection upon SMBH mass probably arises from the blockage of jets by the presence of substantial quantities of gas tidally stripped from stars by the central BH. This disruptive gas, however, will only be available around BHs with masses less than $M_c ~\gtrsim ~10^8\Msun$, for which the tidal disruption radius lies outside the SMBH's event horizon. Consequently, we find that AGN with $M_{BH} > M_c$ can successfully launch jets with a wide range of powers, thus producing radio-loud quasars. The great majority of jets launched by less massive BHs, however, will be truncated in the vicinity of the SMBH due to mass loading from this stellar debris. This scenario also can naturally explain the remarkable dearth of extended radio structures in quasars showing broad absorption line spectra.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Superdisks in Radio Galaxies: Jet-Wind Interactions

Taking a clue from their sharp-edged (strip-like) morphology observed in several cases, a new mechanism is proposed for the formation of the emission gaps seen between the radio lobes of many powerful extragalactic double radio sources. Canonical understanding of the radio gaps invokes either blocking of the back-flowing lobe plasma by the denser interstellar medium (ISM) of the host galaxy, or "squeezing" of the radio bridge in the middle through buoyancy force exerted by either the ISM or the surrounding intra-cluster medium (ICM). These pictures encounter difficulties in explaining situations where the sharp-edged radio gaps associated with non-cluster radio galaxies have widths running into several tens (even hundreds) of kiloparsecs. More particularly, the required dense high-pressure ISM/ICM is likely to be lacking at least in the case of high-redshift radio galaxies. We propose here that radio emission gaps in at least such cases could arise from a dynamical interaction between the powerful thermal wind outflowing from the active galactic nucleus and the back-flowing synchrotron plasma in the two radio lobes, which occurs once the rapidly advancing jets have crossed out of the wind zone into the intergalactic medium. A simple analytical scheme is presented to explore the plausibility of the side-ways confinement of the thermal wind by the radio lobe pair, which would "freeze" pancake shaped conduits in the space, along which the hot, metal enriched wind from the AGN can escape (roughly orthogonal to the radio axis). Some other possible consequences of this scenario are pointed out.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Influence of the jet opening angle on the derived kinematical parameters of blazar jets having uniform and stratified bulk motion

We present analytical modelling of conical relativistic jets, in order to evaluate the role of the jet opening angle on certain key parameters that are inferred from VLBI radio observations of blazar nuclear jets. The key parameters evaluated are the orientation angle (i.e., the viewing angle) of the jet and the apparent speed and Doppler factor of the radio knots on parsec scales. Quantitative comparisons are made of the influence of the jet opening angle on the above parameters of the radio knots, as would be estimated for two widely discussed variants of relativistic nuclear jets, namely, those having uniform bulk speed and those in which the bulk Lorentz factor of the flow decreases with distance from the jet axis (a `spine--sheath' flow). Our analysis shows that for both types of jet velocity distributions the expectation value of the jet orientation angle at first falls dramatically with increases in the (central) jet Lorentz factor, but it levels off at a fraction of the opening angle for extremely relativistic jets. We also find that the effective values of the apparent speeds and Doppler factors of the knots always decline substantially with increasing jet opening angle, but that this effect is strongest for ultra-relativistic jets with uniform bulk speed. We suggest that the paucity of highly superluminal parsec-scale radio components in TeV blazars can be understood if their jets are highly relativistic and, being intrinsically weaker, somewhat less well collimated, in comparison to the jets in other blazars.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Effects of Jet Opening Angle and Velocity Structure on Blazar Parameters

We had earlier shown that for a constant velocity jet the discrepancy between the low speeds indicated by VLBI knot motions and the high Doppler factors inferred from emission of TeV photons could be reconciled if ultrarelativistic jets possessed modest opening angles. Here we evaluate the (flux-weighted) viewing angles of the jet and the apparent speeds and Doppler factors of the radio knots on parsec scales. The influence of the jet opening angle on these radio knot parameters are found for the usually considered types of relativistic nuclear jets: those with uniform bulk speeds and those where the bulk Lorentz factor of the flow decreases with distance from the jet axis, known as `spine--sheath' flows. For both types of jet velocity structures the expectation value of the jet orientation angle at first falls dramatically with increases in the (central) jet Lorentz factor, but for extremely relativistic jets it levels off at a fraction of the opening angle. The effective values of the apparent speeds and Doppler factors of the knots always decline substantially with increasing jet opening angle. The rarity of highly superluminal parsec-scale radio components in TeV blazars can be understood if their jets are both highly relativistic and intrinsically weaker, so probably less well collimated, than the jets in ordinary blazars.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Testing Models of Radio Galaxy Evolution and the Cosmological Impact of FR II Radio Galaxies

We investigate aspects of the cosmological evolution of FR II radio galaxies, focusing first on the abilities of models to match data for linear-sizes, radio powers, redshifts and spectral indices. Here we consider modifications to the theoretical models we had treated earlier, primarily by accounting for the growth of the radius of hotspots with source size. Better fits to the distributions of most of the data in three low-frequency surveys can be found with sensible choices of model parameters but no model yet considered gives a good match to all of the survey data simultaneously, nor does any do a good job of producing the spectral index distributions. The observational datasets are too small to completely discriminate among the models. We calculate the volume fraction of the ``relevant universe'' cumulatively occupied by the expanding radio galaxy lobes over the quasar era, when these powerful radio galaxies were much more common, and when they have been argued to play an important role in triggering galaxy formation and spreading magnetic fields and metals. We found the cumulative relevant volume filling factor of radio galaxies to be $\sim 5 %$, so we conclude that these impacts are smaller than previously estimated but that they are still significant.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Hydrodynamic Interactions of Relativistic Extragalactic Jets with Dense Clouds

We have studied three-dimensional hydrodynamic interactions of relativistic extragalactic jets with two-phase ambient media. These jets propagate through a denser homogeneous gas and then impact clouds with densities 100 to 1000 times higher than the initial beam density. The deflection angle of the jet is influenced more by the density contrast of the cloud than by the beam Mach number of the jet. A relativistic jet with low relativistic beam Mach number can eventually be slightly bent after it crosses the dense cloud; however, we have not seen permanently bent structures in the interaction of a high relativistic beam Mach number jet with a cloud. The relativistic jet impacts on dense clouds do not necessarily destroy the clouds completely, and much of the cloud body can survive as a coherent blob. This enhancement of cloud durability is partly due to the geometric influence of the off-axis collisions we consider and also arises from the lower rate of cloud fragmentation through the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability for relativistic jets. To compare our simulations with observed extragalactic radio jets, we have computed the approximate surface distributions of synchrotron emission at different viewing angles. These surface intensity maps show relativistic jets interacting with clouds can produce synchrotron emission knots similar to structures observed in many VLBI-scale radio sources. We find that the synchrotron emission increases steeply at the moment of impact and the emission peaks right before the jet passes through the cloud.

astro-ph↗