259 research outputs found
Synthetic synchrotron emission maps from MHD models for the jet of M87
We present self-consistent global, steady-state MHD models and synthetic
optically thin synchrotron emission maps for the jet of M87. The model consist
of two distinct zones: an inner relativistic outflow, which we identify with
the observed jet, and an outer cold disk-wind. While the former does not
self-collimate efficiently due to its high effective inertia, the latter
fulfills all the conditions for efficient collimation by the
magneto-centrifugal mechanism. Given the right balance between the effective
inertia of the inner flow and the collimation efficiency of the outer disk
wind, the relativistic flow is magnetically confined into a well collimated
beam and matches the measurements of the opening angle of M87 over several
orders of magnitude in spatial extent. The synthetic synchrotron maps reproduce
the morphological structure of the jet of M87, i.e. center-bright profiles near
the core and limb-bright profiles away from the core. At the same time, they
also show a local increase of brightness at some distance along the axis
associated to a recollimation shock in the MHD model. Its location coincides
with the position of the optical knot HST-1. In addition our best fitting model
is consistent with a number of observational constraints such as the magnetic
field in the knot HST-1, and the jet-to-counterjet brightness ratio.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, accepted by Ap
Magnetic acceleration of ultra-relativistic jets in gamma-ray burst sources
We present a relativistic-MHD numerical study of axisymmetric, magnetically
driven jets with parameters applicable to gamma-ray burst (GRB) flows. We also
present analytic expressions for the asymptotic jet shape and other flow
parameters that agree very well with the numerical results. All
current-carrying outflows exhibit self-collimation and consequent acceleration
near the rotation axis, but unconfined outflows lose causal connectivity across
the jet and therefore do not collimate or accelerate efficiently in their outer
regions. Magnetically accelerated jets confined by an external pressure that
varies with distance with a power-law index < 2 assume a paraboloidal shape and
have an acceleration efficiency > 50%. They attain Lorentz factors > 30 on
scales 10^9-3x10^10 cm, consistent with the possibility that short/hard GRB
jets are accelerated on scales where they can be confined by moderately
relativistic winds from accretion discs, and > 100 on scales 10^10-10^12 cm,
consistent with the possibility that long/soft GRB jets are accelerated within
the envelopes of collapsing massive stars. We also find that the Lorentz factor
of a magnetically accelerated jet is approximately inversely proportional to
the opening half-angle of the poloidal streamlines. This implies that the
gamma-ray emitting components of GRB outflows are very narrow, with a
half-angle < 1 degree in regions where the Lorentz factor exceeds 100, and that
the afterglow light curves of these components would either exhibit a very
early jet break or show no jet break at all.Comment: submitted to MNRAS, 32 pages, 23 figure
Counter-rotation in relativistic magnetohydrodynamic jets
Young stellar object observations suggest that some jets rotate in the
opposite direction with respect to their disk. In a recent study, Sauty et al.
(2012) have shown that this does not contradict the magnetocentrifugal
mechanism that is believed to launch such outflows. Signatures of motions
transverse to the jet axis and in opposite directions have recently been
measured in M87 (Meyer et al. 2013). One possible interpretation of this motion
is the one of counter rotating knots. Here, we extend our previous analytical
derivation of counter-rotation to relativistic jets, demonstrating that
counter-rotation can indeed take place under rather general conditions. We show
that both the magnetic field and a non-negligible enthalpy are necessary at the
origin of counter-rotating outflows, and that the effect is associated with a
transfer of energy flux from the matter to the electromagnetic field. This can
be realized in three cases : if a decreasing enthalpy causes an increase of the
Poynting flux, if the flow decelerates, or, if strong gradients of the magnetic
field are present. An illustration of the involved mechanism is given by an
example of relativistic MHD jet simulation.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ
Magnetic collimation of the relativistic jet in M87
We apply a two-zone MHD model to the jet of M87. The model consists of an
inner relativistic outflow, which is surrounded by a non-relativistic outer
disk-wind. The outer disk-wind collimates very well through magnetic
self-collimation and confines the inner relativistic jet into a narrow region
around the rotation axis. Further, we show by example, that such models
reproduce very accurately the observed opening angle of the M87 jet over a
large range from the kiloparsec scale down to the sub-parsec scale.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted by A&A Letter
Stochastic model of optical variability of BL Lacertae
We use optical photometric and polarimetric data of BL Lacertae that cover a
period of 22 years to study the variability of the source. The long-term
observations are employed for establishing parameters of a stochastic model
consisting of the radiation from a steady polarized source and a number of
variable components with different polarization parameters, proposed by
Hagen-Thorn et al. earlier. We infer parameters of the model from the
observations using numerical simulations based on a Monte Carlo method, with
values of each model parameter selected from a Gaussian distribution. We
determine the best set of model parameters by comparing model distributions to
the observational ones using the chi-square criterion. We show that the
observed photometric and polarimetric variability can be explained within a
model with a steady source of high polarization, ~40%, and with direction of
polarization parallel to the parsec scale jet, along with 10+-5 sources of
variable polarization.Comment: 4 pages, 10 figures, published by Astronomy and Astrophysics; v2:
typos correcte
Velocity asymmetries in YSO jets: Intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms
It is a well established fact that some YSO jets (e.g. RW Aur) display
different propagation speeds between their blue and red shifted parts, a
feature possibly associated with the central engine or the environment in which
the jet propagates. In order to understand the origin of asymmetric YSO jet
velocities, we investigate the efficiency of two candidate mechanisms, one
based on the intrinsic properties of the system and one based on the role of
the external medium. In particular, a parallel or anti-parallel configuration
between the protostellar magnetosphere and the disk magnetic field is
considered and the resulting dynamics are examined both in an ideal and a
resistive magneto-hydrodynamical (MHD) regime. Moreover, we explore the effects
of a potential difference in the pressure of the environment, as a consequence
of the non-uniform density distribution of molecular clouds. Ideal and
resistive axisymmetric numerical simulations are carried out for a variety of
models, all of which are based on a combination of two analytical solutions, a
disk wind and a stellar outflow. We find that jet velocity asymmetries can
indeed occur both when multipolar magnetic moments are present in the star-disk
system as well as when non-uniform environments are considered. The latter case
is an external mechanism that can easily explain the large time scale of the
phenomenon, whereas the former one naturally relates it to the YSO intrinsic
properties. [abridged]Comment: accepted for publication in A&
Young stellar object jet models: From theory to synthetic observations
Astronomical observations, analytical solutions and numerical simulations
have provided the building blocks to formulate the current theory of young
stellar object jets. Although each approach has made great progress
independently, it is only during the last decade that significant efforts are
being made to bring the separate pieces together. Building on previous work
that combined analytical solutions and numerical simulations, we apply a
sophisticated cooling function to incorporate optically thin energy losses in
the dynamics. On the one hand, this allows a self-consistent treatment of the
jet evolution and on the other, it provides the necessary data to generate
synthetic emission maps. Firstly, analytical disk and stellar outflow solutions
are properly combined to initialize numerical two-component jet models inside
the computational box. Secondly, magneto-hydrodynamical simulations are
performed in 2.5D, following properly the ionization and recombination of a
maximum of ions. Finally, the outputs are post-processed to produce
artificial observational data. The first two-component jet simulations, based
on analytical models, that include ionization and optically thin radiation
losses demonstrate promising results for modeling specific young stellar object
outflows. The generation of synthetic emission maps provides the link to
observations, as well as the necessary feedback for the further improvement of
the available models.Comment: accepted for publication A&A, 20 pages, 11 figure
Magnetic acceleration of relativistic AGN jets
We present numerical simulations of axisymmetric, magnetically driven
relativistic jets. To eliminate the dissipative effects induced by a free
boundary with an ambient medium we assume that the flow is confined by a rigid
wall of a prescribed shape, which we take to be (in cylindrical
coordinates, with ranging from 1 to 3). The outflows are initially cold,
sub-Alfv\'enic and Poynting flux-dominated, with a total--to--rest-mass energy
flux ratio . We find that in all cases they converge to a steady
state characterized by a spatially extended acceleration region. The
acceleration process is very efficient: on the outermost scale of the
simulation as much as of the Poynting flux has been converted into
kinetic energy flux, and the terminal Lorentz factor approaches its maximum
possible value (). We also find a high collimation
efficiency: all our simulated jets develop a cylindrical core. We argue that
this could be the rule for current-carrying outflows that start with a low
initial Lorentz factor (). Our conclusions on the high
acceleration and collimation efficiencies are not sensitive to the particular
shape of the confining boundary or to the details of the injected current
distribution, and they are qualitatively consistent with the semi-analytic
self-similar solutions derived by Vlahakis & K\"onigl. We apply our results to
the interpretation of relativistic jets in AGNs: we argue that they naturally
account for the spatially extended accelerations inferred in these sources
(\Gamma_\infty \ga 10 attained on radial scales R\ga 10^{17} {\rm cm}) and
are consistent with the transition to the matter-dominated regime occurring
already at R\ga 10^{16} {\rm cm}.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Contains new results and
additional discussion that addresses comments of referee and other contact
Dissipationless Disk Accretion
We consider disk accretion resulting purely from the loss of angular momentum
due to the outflow of plasma from a magnetized disk. In this limiting case, the
dissipation due to the viscosity and finite electrical conductivity of the
plasma can be neglected. We have obtained self-consistent, self-similar
solutions for dissipationless disk accretion. Such accretion may result in the
formation of objects whose bolometric luminosities are lower than the flux of
kinetic energy in the ejected material.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, published in Astronomy Reports, Vol.49, No.1,
2005, p.57 (submitted September 13, 2003). Unfortunately, we did not upload
the paper to astro-ph before, but since the topic is now of interest we feel
that the paper would benefit the communit
Relativistic spine jets from Schwarzschild black holes: "Application to AGN radioloud sources"
The two types of Fanaroff-Riley radio loud galaxies, FRI and FRII, exhibit
strong jets but with different properties. These differences may be associated
to the central engine and/or the external medium. Aims: The AGN classification
FRI and FRII can be linked to the rate of electromagnetic Poynting flux
extraction from the inner corona of the central engine by the jet. The
collimation results from the distribution of the total electromagnetic energy
across the jet, as compared to the corresponding distribution of the thermal
and gravitational energies. We use exact solutions of the fully relativistic
magnetohydrodynamical (GRMHD) equations obtained by a nonlinear separation of
the variables to study outflows from a Schwarzschild black hole corona. A
strong correlation is found between the jet features and the energetic
distribution of the plasma of the inner corona which may be related to the
efficiency of the magnetic rotator. It is shown that observations of FRI and
FRII jets may be partially constrained by our model for spine jets. The
deceleration observed in FRI jets may be associated with a low magnetic
efficiency of the central magnetic rotator and an important thermal confinement
by the hot surrounding medium. Conversely, the strongly collimated and
accelerated FRII outflows may be self collimated by their own magnetic field
because of the high efficiency of the central magnetic rotator.Comment: Accepted for publication in the A&
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