Related papers: Blazar jets: the spectra
The observed spectra of blazars, their intrinsic emission, and the underlying populations of radiating particles are intimately related. The use of these sources as probes of the extragalactic infrared background, a prospect propelled by…
Nonthermal radiation observed from astrophysical systems containing relativistic jets and shocks, e.g., gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and Galactic microquasar systems usually have power-law emission spectra. Recent…
The prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (hereafter GRBs) probably comes from a highly relativistic wind which converts its kinetic energy into radiation via the formation of shocks within the wind itself. Such "internal shocks" can occur if…
Blazars radiate from relativistic jets launched by a supermassive black hole along our line of sight; the subclass of FSRQs exhibits broad emission lines, a telltale sign of a gas-rich environment and high accretion rate, contrary to the…
The standard blazar paradigm consists of a supermassive black hole that expels relativistic jets of magnetized plasma in our direction. This plasma entrains nonthermal synchrotron-emitting electrons that furthermore scatter…
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…
If gamma ray bursts are highly collimated, the energy requirements of each event may be reduced by several (~ 4-6) orders of magnitude, and the event rate increased correspondingly. Extreme conditions in gamma ray bursters lead to highly…
Models of Blazars based on the propagation of finite discontinuities or fronts in the Poynting flux jet from the innermost regions of an accretion disk around a black hole are discussed. Such fronts may be responsible for short time-scale…
The empirical relations in the black hole-accretion disk-relativistic jet system and physical processes behind these relations are still poorly understood, partly because they operate close to the black hole within the central light year.…
The origin of gamma-ray flares observed from blazars is one of the major mysteries in jet physics. We have attempted to address this problem following a novel spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting technique that explored the flaring…
In the standard internal shock model, the observed X and gamma-ray radiation is assumed to be produced by synchrotron emission. I will show that there are serious problems with this interpretation, calling for other radiation mechanisms,…
The emission processes responsible for the observed X-rays from radio jets are commonly believed to be non-thermal, but in any particular case, it is unclear if synchrotron emission or one or more varieties of inverse Compton emission…
This paper reviews the topic of sub-parsec - scale jets in quasars, and covers the the following issues: observations of parsec and sub-parsec scale jets; energy dissipation and particle acceleration; radiative processes; magnetic fields,…
It has been proposed that blazar jets are structured, with a fast spine surrounded by a slower sheath or layer. This structured jet model explains some properties of their emission and morphology. Because of their relative motion, the…
A puzzling feature of the {\it Chandra}--detected quasar jets is that their X-ray emission decreases faster along the jet than their radio emission, resulting to an outward increasing radio to X-ray ratio. In some sources this behavior is…
Jets can be probed in their innermost regions (d~0.1 pc) through the study of the relativistically-boosted emission of blazars. On the other extreme of spatial scales, the study of structure and dynamics of extragalactic relativistic jets…
Jets, paving their way outward through the inner regions of active nuclei, Compton-interact with the UV radiation from an accretion disc and broad emission line region. We calculate the predicted properties of the resulting spectral…
We investigate the spectral and timing signatures of the internal-shock model for blazars. For this purpose, we develop a semi-analytical model for the time-dependent radiative output from internal shocks arising from colliding relativistic…
We have developed a model for gamma ray emission in jets of active galactic nuclei in which particle acceleration takes place at a shock in the relativistic jet plasma due to a massive star in the central region of the host galaxy moving…
The physical origin of the X-ray emission in powerful quasar jets has been a long-standing mystery. Though these jets start out on the sub-pc scale as highly relativistic flows, we do not have any direct measurement of their speeds on the…