Related papers: Relativistic Phenomena in Active Galactic Nuclei
Relativistic accretors are cosmic objects that pull matter from their surroundings at speeds almost equal to the light's speed. Because of the tremendous gravitational force from the accretors and the angular momentum of infalling material,…
Relativistic jets naturally occur in astrophysical systems that involve accretion onto compact objects, such as core collapse of massive stars in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and accretion onto supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei…
Relativistic outflows represent one of the best-suited tools to probe the physics of AGN. Numerical modelling of internal structure of the relativistic outflows on parsec scales provides important clues about the conditions and dynamics of…
Relativistic jets are observed only in the low/hard and intermediate states of X-ray binaries (XRBs), and are switched off in the thermal state, but they appear to be present in both low-luminosity and luminous active galactic nuclei…
Over the past few decades, our knowledge of jets produced by active galactic nuclei (AGN) has greatly progressed thanks to the development of very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI). Nevertheless, the crucial mechanisms involved in the…
We consider the centrifugal acceleration of charged test particles by rotating magnetospheres which are widely believed to be responsible for the relativistic jet phenomenon in active galactic nuclei (AGN). Based on an analysis of forces…
X-ray emission from large scale extragalactic jets is likely to be due to inverse Compton scattering of relativistic particles off seed photons of both the cosmic microwave background field and the blazar nucleus. The first process…
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are complex phenomena. At the heart of an AGN is a relativistic accretion disk around a spinning supermassive black hole (SMBH) with an X-ray emitting corona and, sometimes, a relativistic jet. On larger scales,…
One of the main scenarios to account for the multi-wavelength flux variability observed in relativistic jets of AGNs is based on diffusive shock acceleration of a population of relativistic electrons on internal shocks of various origins.…
Jets associated with Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) have been observed for almost a century, initially at optical and radio wavelengths. They are now widely accepted as "exhausts" produced electromagnetically by the central, spinning, massive…
The group velocity of light in material around the AGN jet is acquiescently one (c as a unit), but this is only a hypothesis. Here, we re-derive apparent superluminal and Doppler formulas for the general case (it is assumed that the group…
The transverse stratification of active galactic nuclei (AGN) jets is suggested by observations and theoretical arguments, as a consequence of intrinsic properties of the central engine (accretion disc + black hole) and external medium. On…
We review some of the main physical and statistical properties of the X-ray absorber in AGNs. In particular, we review the distribution of the absorbing column density inferred from X-ray observations of various AGN samples. We discuss the…
Being dominated by non-thermal emission from aligned relativistic jets, blazars allow us to elucidate the physics of extragalactic jets, and, ultimately, how energy is extracted from the central black hole. Crucial information about jet…
The properties of thermal material coexisting with non-thermal emitting plasma and strong magnetic field in the powerful jets of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are examined. Theoretical and observational constraints on the physical properties…
Long X-ray observations of bright Active Galactic Nuclei show that X-ray eclipses, with durations from a few hours to a few days, are rather common. This opens up a new window of opportunity in the search for signatures of relativistic…
The dichotomy between radio-loud (RL) and radio-quiet (RQ) active galactic nuclei (AGN) is thought to be intrinsically related to radio jet production. This difference may be explained by the presence of a strong magnetic field (B-field)…
The extremes of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) variability offer valuable new insights into the drivers and physics of AGN. We discuss some of the most extreme cases of AGN variability; the highest amplitudes, deep minima states, extreme…
We discuss the impact of special relativistic effects on the observed light curves and variability duty cycles of AGNs. We model the properties of AGN light curves at radio wavelengths using a simulated shot noise process in which the…
Adopting the hypothesis that the nonthermal emission of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is primarily due to the acceleration of protons, we construct a simple model in which the interplay of acceleration and losses can be studied together with…