Related papers: Applying Relativistic Reconnection to Blazar Jets
Observations of galaxy clusters show radio emission extended over almost the system scale, necessitating mechanisms for particle acceleration. Previous models for acceleration such as diffusive shock acceleration and that due to turbulence…
Magnetic reconnection in strongly magnetized astrophysical plasma environments is believed to be the primary process for fast energy release and particle energization. Currently there is strong interest in relativistic magnetic…
Fast magnetic reconnection events can be a very powerful mechanism operating in the core region of microquasars and AGNs. In earlier work, it has been suggested that the power released by fast reconnection events between the magnetic field…
We calculate the severe radiative energy losses which occur at the base of black hole jets using a relativistic fluid jet model, including in-situ acceleration of non-thermal leptons by magnetic reconnection. Our results demonstrate that…
Powerful flares from blazars with short ($\sim$ min) variability timescales are challenging for current models of blazar emission. Here, we present a physically motivated ab initio model for blazar flares based on the results of recent…
Relativistic magnetic reconnection is a powerful agent through which magnetic energy can be tapped in astrophysics, energizing particles that then produce observed radiation. In some systems, the highest energy photons come from particles…
Relativistic jets of plasma are a key ingredient of many types of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Today we know that AGNs are powered by the accretion of inter stellar material into the gravitational field of a Super Massive Black Hole and…
Magnetic reconnection is often invoked as a source of high-energy particles, and in relativistic astrophysical systems it is regarded as a prime candidate for powering fast and bright flares. We present a novel analytical model - supported…
In magnetized astrophysical outflows, the dissipation of field energy into particle energy via magnetic reconnection is often invoked to explain the observed non-thermal signatures. By means of two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell…
Magnetic reconnection is invoked as an efficient particle accelerator in a variety of astrophysical sources of non-thermal high-energy radiation. With large-scale two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of relativistic reconnection…
Relativistic reconnection has been invoked as a mechanism for particle acceleration in numerous astrophysical systems. According to idealised analytical models reconnection produces a bulk relativistic outflow emerging from the reconnection…
The origin of extremely fast variability is one of the long-standing questions in the gamma-ray astronomy of blazars. While many models explain the slower, lower energy variability, they cannot easily account for such fast flares reaching…
Aims. We use a sample of 83 core-dominated active galactic nuclei (AGN) selected from the MOJAVE (Monitoring of Jets in AGN with VLBA Experiments) radio-flux-limited sample and detected with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) to study the…
Blazars are characterized by relativistic jets that are closely aligned with our line of sight. This results in relativistic beaming, making blazars among the most luminous extragalactic sources across the electromagnetic spectrum, from…
We present our latest results on the connection between accretion rate and relativistic jet power in AGN, by using a large sample which includes mostly blazars, but contains also some radio--galaxies. The jet power can be traced by…
Particle acceleration by magnetic reconnection is now recognized as an important process in magnetically dominated regions of galactic and extragalactic black hole sources. This process helps to solve current puzzles specially related to…
We investigate the saturation of particle acceleration in relativistic reconnection using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations at various magnetizations \sigma. We find that the particle energy spectrum produced in reconnection…
Astrophysical models for the high-energy emission of blazars are reviewed. Blazars ejecting relativistic radio jets at small angles to the line-of-sight are the only type of active galactic nuclei (AGN) discovered above 100 MeV. The…
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process involving an exchange of magnetic energy to plasma kinetic energy through changes in the magnetic field topology. In many astrophysical plasmas magnetic reconnection plays a key role in…
The discovery of high-energy (E>100 MeV) gamma rays from Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies (gamma-NLS1s) has confirmed the presence of powerful relativistic jets in this class of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Although the jet emission is…