Related papers: Relativistic flows in blazars
We model light curves of flares observed in blazars, assuming that they are produced by relativistic electrons/positrons injected by forward-reverse shocks traveling down the jet with relativistic speeds. We approximate the radiating region…
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…
Since the mid-1980s the shock-in-jet model has been the preferred paradigm to explain radio-band flaring in blazar jets. We describe our radiative transfer model incorporating relativistically-propagating shocks, and illustrate how the 4.8,…
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…
We studied the radio emission from four radio-loud and gamma-ray-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies. The goal was to investigate whether a relativistic jet is operating at the source, and quantify its characteristics. We relied on the most…
I review the current knowledge of high-energy emission from extragalctic jets. First I discuss gamma-ray emission from blazars, which provides us numerous precious information on the innermost portions of the relativistic jets. I describe…
Relativistic jets are one of the most powerful manifestations of the release of energy produced around supermassive black holes at the centre of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Their emission is observed across the entire electromagnetic…
The generation of relativistic jets in active sources such as blazars is a complex problem with many aspects, most of them still not fully understood. Relativistic jets are likely produced by the accretion of matter and magnetic fields onto…
Pulsar Wind Nebulae, Blazars, Gamma Ray Bursts and Magnetars all contain regions where the electromagnetic energy density greatly exceeds the plasma energy density. These sources exhibit dramatic flaring activity where the electromagnetic…
Considering shock-accelerated protons in addition to electrons in a synchrotron radio jet naturally produces the observed X- through gamma ray continuum emission of flat-spectrum radio-loud AGN, whereas the corresponding shock-accelerated…
Blazars are high-energy engines providing us natural laboratories to study particle acceleration, relativistic plasma processes, magnetic field dynamics, black hole physics. Key informations are provided by observations at high-energy (in…
Extragalactic relativistic jets are engines able to carry out to large distances a huge amount of power, not only in the form of radiation, but especially in the form of kinetic energy of matter and fields. As such, they can be thought as…
We consider the radiative acceleration to relativistic bulk velocities of a cold, optically thin plasma which is exposed to an external source of gamma-rays. The flow is driven by radiative momentum input to the gas, the accelerating force…
We discuss the possibility that gamma-ray bursts may result from cosmological relativistic blob emitting neutron star jets that precess past the line of sight. Beaming reduces the energy requirements, so that the jet emission can last…
Observations of blazar jets are shrouded in relativistic effects, thus hindering our understanding of their intrinsic properties and dominant physical processes responsible for their generation, evolution,radiation and particle emission. In…
Blazars and Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the fastest objects known so far. The radiation we see from these sources originates in a jet of similar aperture angle, and we think it is the result of the conversion of some of the jet kinetic…
BeppoSAX is best known for its role in the disclosure of the Gamma-Ray Burst mystery, but it has also improved our understanding of jetted sources in general, and blazars in particular. On the interpretational side, we are curious to see if…
The author is developing a numerical code with thousands of emission zones to simulate the time-dependent multi-waveband emission from blazars. The code is based on a model in which turbulent plasma flowing at a relativistic speed down a…
The extreme variability of blazars, in both timescale and amplitude, is generally explained as the effect of a relativistic jet closely aligned to the observer's line-of-sight. Due to causality arguments, variability characteristics…
Blazars are a sub-category of radio-loud active galactic nuclei with relativistic jets pointing towards the observer. They exhibit non-thermal variable emission, which practically extends over the whole electromagnetic spectrum. Despite the…