Related papers: Applying Relativistic Reconnection to Blazar Jets
Although the radio emission from most quasars appears to be associated with star forming activity in the host galaxy, about ten percent of optically selected quasars have very luminous relativistic jets apparently powered by a SMBH which is…
We present a new, semi-analytic formalism to model the acceleration and collimation of relativistic jets in a gravitational potential. The gravitational energy density includes the kinetic, thermal, and electromagnetic mass contributions.…
The major multi-epoch VLBA programs are described and discussed in terms of relativistic beaming models. Broadly speaking the observed kinematics are consistent with models having a parent population which is only mildly relativistic but…
We discuss results from a decade long program to study the fine-scale structure and the kinematics of relativistic AGN jets with the aim of better understanding the acceleration and collimation of the relativistic plasma forming AGN jets.…
The power of a relativistic jet depends on the number of leptons and protons carried by the jet itself. We have reasons to believe that powerful gamma-ray flat spectrum radio sources emit most of their radiation where radiative cooling is…
Astrophysical observations suggest that magnetic reconnection in relativistic plasmas plays an important role in the acceleration of energetic particles. Modeling this accurately requires numerical schemes capable of addressing large scales…
The multi-wavelength emission from a newly identified population of `extreme-TeV' blazars, with Compton peak frequencies around 1 TeV, is difficult to interpret with standard one-zone emission models. Large values of the minimum electron…
The matter content of extragalactic relativistic jets is still an unsolved issue. There are strong arguments against pure electron-positron pair jets, but pairs could outnumber the electrons associated with protons by a factor 10-20. This…
Blazar emission models based on magnetic reconnection succeed in reproducing many observed spectral and temporal features, including the short-duration luminous flaring events. Plasmoids, a self-consistent by-product of the tearing…
We study the compression driven magnetic reconnection in the relativistic electron-positron plasma. Making use of a 2.5D particle-in-cell code, we simulated compression of a magnetized plasma layer containing a current sheet within it. We…
We report that active galactic nucleus (AGN) jets are causally connected on parsec scales, based on 15 GHz Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) data from a sample of 133 AGN jets. This result is achieved through a new method for measuring the…
The dissipation mechanism that powers gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) remains uncertain almost half a century after their discovery. The two main competing mechanisms are the extensively studied internal shocks and the less studied magnetic…
Relativistic magnetized jets from active galaxies are among the most powerful cosmic accelerators, but their particle acceleration mechanisms remain a mystery. We present a new acceleration mechanism associated with the development of the…
Magnetic reconnection is an energy conversion process important in many astrophysical contexts including the Earth's magnetosphere, where the process can be investigated in-situ. Here we present the first encounter of a reconnection site by…
We propose a straightforward and efficient mechanism for the high-energy emission of relativistic astrophysical jets associated with an exchange of interacting high-energy photons between the jet and the external environment. Physical…
Blazars radiate from relativistic plasma jets with bulk Lorentz factors {\Gamma} ~ 10, closely aligned along our line of sight. In a number of blazars of the Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar type such as 3C 454.3 and 3C 279 gamma-ray flares have…
Magnetic reconnection in strongly magnetized (low-beta), weakly collisional plasmas is investigated using a novel fluid-kinetic model [Zocco & Schekochihin, Phys. Plasmas 18, 102309 (2011)] which retains non-isothermal electron kinetics. It…
When a magnetically-dominated super-fast magnetosonic GRB jet leaves the progenitor star the external pressure support may drop and the jet may enter the regime of ballistic expansion during which its magnetic acceleration becomes highly…
Jets are a ubiquitous part of the accretion process, seen in a wide variety of objects ranging from active galaxies (AGN) to X-ray binary stars and even newly formed stars. AGN jets are accelerated by the supermassive black hole of their…
Magnetic reconnection in strongly magnetized regions around the temperature minimum region of the low solar atmosphere is studied by employing MHD-based simulations of a partially ionized plasma within a reactive 2.5D multi-fluid model. It…