3-D Rpic Simulations of Relativistic Jets: Particle Acceleration, Magnetic Field Generation, and Emission

We have applied numerical simulations and modeling to the particle acceleration, magnetic field generation, and emission from relativistic shocks. We investigate the nonlinear stage of theWeibel instability and compare our simulations with the observed gamma-ray burst emission. In collisionless shocks, plasma waves and their associated instabilities (e.g., the Weibel, Buneman and other two-stream instabilities) are responsible for particle (electron, positron, and ion) acceleration and magnetic field generation. 3-D relativistic electromagnetic particle (REMP) simulations with three different electron-positron jet velocity distributions and also with an electron-ion plasma have been performed and show shock processes including spatial and temporal evolution of shocks in unmagnetized ambient plasmas. The growth time and nonlinear saturation levels depend on the initial jet parallel velocity distributions. Simulations show that the Weibel instability created in the collisionless shocks accelerates jet and ambient particles both perpendicular and parallel to the jet propagation direction. The nonlinear fluctuation amplitude of densities, currents, electric, and magnetic fields in the electron-positron shocks are larger for smaller jet Lorentz factor. This comes from the fact that the growth time of the Weibel instability is proportional to the square of the jet Lorentz factor. We have performed simulations with broad Lorentz factor distribution of jet electrons and positrons, which is assumed to be created by photon annihilation. Simulation results with this broad distribution show that the Weibel instability is excited continuously by the wide-range of jet Lorentz factor from lower to higher values. In all simulations the Weibel instability is responsible for generating and amplifying magnetic fields perpendicular to the jet propagation direction, and contributes to the electron’s (positron’s) transverse deflection behind the jet head. This small scale magnetic field structure contributes to the generation of “jitter” radiation from deflected electrons (positrons), which is different from synchrotron radiation in uniform magnetic fields. The jitter radiation resulting from small scale magnetic field structures may be important for understanding the complex time structure and spectral evolution observed in gamma-ray bursts or other astrophysical sources containing relativistic jets and relativistic collisionless shocks. The detailed studies of shock microscopic process evolution may provide some insights into early and later GRB afterglows.     

Synchrotron X-ray emission from supernova remnants. Exponential cut-off in the electron spectrum

We present a model which describes the evolution of the energy spectrum of relativistic electrons in supernova remnants, with radiation losses of electrons taken into account. The model can be used to calculate the synchrotron X-ray emission from supernova remnants in the uniform interstellar medium and in the uniform interstellar magnetic field. The importance of various factors in the variations of spatial distributions of nonthermal electrons and their synchrotron emissive capacity is demonstrated. We analyze the errors which arise in the magnetic field strength when it is estimated with the use of the models which ignore the detailed pattern of the evolution of the magnetic field and the electron spectrum behind the shock front in the remnant. The evolution of synchrotron emission spectrum and the ratio between the synchrotron radio and X-ray fluxes from supernova remnants are calculated.     

A possible mechanism of jet formation in the nuclei of radio galaxies

A hypothesis is being put forward that the formation of jets in the nuclei of radio galaxies is due to a high-speed energy excretion (explosion) in the accretion disk around a massive black hole. The explosion can be induced, for example, by a fall of the star into the black hole. For the accretion disk featuring an exponential high-density distribution, an asymmetrical explosion can be obtained: the shock front moves in the direction of decreasing the density accelerately and achieves the relativistic velocity swiftly, carrying away the most fraction of the explosion energy. Radio emission of the jet involves synchrotron radiation of relativistic electrons which are accelerated by such shock wave in the magnetic field driven up by the shock front.     

Variable synchrotron emission from BL Lacertae objects. II. Optical and X-ray flares in HBL source 1ES 1959+650

This paper presents the results of the optical R band and 1.5–12 keV band X-ray monitoring of the high-energy peaked BL Lacertae source 1ES 1959+650 performed during 2002–2007 with the 70 cm Meniscus Telescope of Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory (Georgia) and the All-Sky Monitor on board the Rossi X-ray Time Explorer, respectively. The observed long- and short-term outbursts are fitted with the lightcurves obtained by means of the modeling of synchrotron flares that are assumed to be the result of a propagation of the relativistic shock waves through the jet of 1ES 1959+650, pointed to the observer. Different values of the input parameters (shock velocity, particles’ spectral index, sizes of emission region, minimum and maximum Lorentz factors of the particles etc.) are used in order to fit the simulated lightcurves whose constructed by means of observational data. This investigation shows that both shock velocity and physical conditions in the jet of 1ES 1959+650 should be variable from flare to flare. The shocks are found to be mildly relativistic with the apparent speeds β=0.46–0.85, expressed in the units of c. Spectral index of the particle energy distribution varied from 2.10 to 2.17 for the long-term flares while it is higher in the case of short-term outbursts: s=2.32–2.45 that is suggested to be a result of the deceleration of shock front during its passage through the shell situated downstream the Mach disc. The average strength of a turbulent magnetic field ranged from 0.025 gauss to 0.04 gauss for different long-term flares while the values of 0.07–0.14 gauss were adopted for the different short-term outbursts. The lengths of variable jet area found to be of 0.13–0.47 pc with the transverse extents of (0.5–1.0)×10¹⁷ cm in the case of long-term flares. The same characteristics for short-term outbursts were (2.74–5.5)×10¹⁶ cm and (0.2–04)×10¹⁷ cm, respectively. We conclude that both shock velocity and properties of pre-shocked plasma were not the same in 1ES 1959+650 for the different flaring epochs.     

Overall temporal synchrotron emissions from relativistic jets: adiabatic and radiative breaks

We discuss the afterglow emission from a relativistic jet that is initially in the radiative regime, in which the accelerated electrons are fast-cooling. We note that such a 'semiradiative' jet decelerates faster than an adiabatic jet does. We also take into account the effect of strong inverse-Compton scattering on the cooling frequency in the synchrotron component and therefore on the light-curve decay index. We find that there are two kinds of light-curve break for the jet effect. The first is an 'adiabatic break', if the electrons become slow-cooling before the jet enters a spreading phase, and the second is a 'radiative break', which appears in the contrary case. We then show how a relativistic jet evolves dynamically and derive the overall temporal synchrotron emission in both cases, focusing on the change in the light-curve decay index around the break time. Finally, in view of our results, we rule out two cases for relativistic jets which do not account for the observed light-curve breaks in a few afterglows : (i) an adiabatic jet with strong Compton cooling  ( Y >1)  and with the cooling frequency ν _c locating in the observed energy range; (ii) a radiative jet with a significant fraction of total energy occupied by electrons  ( ε _e ∼1)  .     

A quantitative model of coherent,stimulated emission in astrophysical jets

On the basis of issues raised by observations of BL Lac objects and the qualitative jet model proposed by Bakeret al. in 1988, we have been led to consider the quantitative role of coherent, stimulated emission in jets and construct a new jet model of blazars in which a relativistic electron beam with an axial symmetric, power-law distribution is injected from the central engine into the jet plasma. We study quantitatively the synchrotron emission of the relativistic electron beams. Using the weak turbulent theory of plasma, we discuss the interaction between relativistic electron beams and jet plasma, and the roles of stimulated emission. The main results are:

1. The synchrotron emission increases sensitively with the increase of the angle between the direction of the beam and the magnetic field. When the direction of the beam is vertical to the magnetic field, the synchrotron emission reaches its maximum, i.e. the emitted waves are beamed in the direction of the jet axis. We suggest that radio selected BL Lac objects belong to this extreme classification.
2. The synchrotron emission of the relativistic beam increases rapidly with the increase of the Lorentz factor of the relativistic electron,γ, whenγ ≤ 22.5, then decreases rapidly with increase ofγ.
3. The stimulated emission also increases with increasing Lorentz factorγ of the relativistic electrons whenγ ≤ 35 and then decreases with the increasingγ. The maximum stimulated emission and the maximum synchrotron emission occur at different frequencies. Stimulated emission is probably very important and reasonable flare mechanism in blazars.
4. The rapid polarization position angle (PA) swings may arise from the interaction between the relativistic electron beam and the turbulent plasma.

     

INTEGRAL serendipitous detection of the gamma-ray microquasar LS 5039

LS 5039 is the only X-ray binary persistently detected at TeV energies by the Cherenkov HESS telescope. It is moreover a γ-ray emitter in the GeV and possibly MeV energy ranges. To understand important aspects of jet physics, like the magnetic field content or particle acceleration, and emission processes, such as synchrotron and inverse Compton (IC), a complete modeling of the multiwavelength data is necessary. LS 5039 has been detected along almost all the electromagnetic spectrum thanks to several radio, infrared, optical and soft X-ray detections. However, hard X-ray detections above 20 keV have been so far elusive and/or doubtful, partly due to source confusion for the poor spatial resolution of hard X-ray instruments. We report here on deep (∼300 ks) serendipitous INTEGRAL hard X-ray observations of LS 5039, coupled with simultaneous VLA radio observations. We obtain a 20–40 keV flux of 1.1±0.3 mCrab (5.9 (±1.6) ×10⁻¹² erg cm⁻² s⁻¹), a 40–100 keV upper limit of 1.5 mCrab (9.5×10⁻¹² erg cm⁻² s⁻¹), and typical radio flux densities of ∼25 mJy at 5 GHz. These hard X-ray fluxes are significantly lower than previous estimates obtained with BATSE in the same energy range but, in the lower interval, agree with extrapolation of previous RXTE measurements. The INTEGRAL observations also hint to a break in the spectral behavior at hard X-rays. A more sensitive characterization of the hard X-ray spectrum of LS 5039 from 20 to 100 keV could therefore constrain key aspects of the jet physics, like the relativistic particle spectrum and the magnetic field strength. Future multiwavelength observations would allow to establish whether such hard X-ray synchrotron emission is produced by the same population of relativistic electrons as those presumably producing TeV emission through IC.     

Synchrotron emission in the fast cooling regime: which spectra can be explained?

We consider the synchrotron emission from relativistic shocks assuming that the radiating electrons cool rapidly (either through synchrotron or any other radiation mechanism). It is shown that the theory of synchrotron emission in the fast cooling regime can account for a wide range of spectral shapes. In particular, the magnetic field, which decays behind the shock front, brings enough flexibility to the theory to explain the majority of gamma-ray burst spectra even in the parameter-free fast cooling regime. Also, we discuss whether location of the peak in observed spectral energy distributions of gamma-ray bursts and active galactic nuclei can be made consistent with predictions of diffusive shock acceleration theory, and find that the answer is negative. This result is a strong indication that a particle injection mechanism, other than the standard shock acceleration, works in relativistic shocks.     

Models of Very-High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from the Jets of Microquasars: Orbital Modulation

The recent detection of very-high-energy (GeV – TeV) γ-ray emission from the Galactic black-hole candidate and microquasar LS 5039 has sparked renewed interest in jet models for the high-energy emission in those objects. In this work, we have focused on models in which the high-energy emission results from synchrotron and Compton emission by relativistic electrons in the jet (leptonic jet models). Particular attention has been paid to a possible orbital modulation of the high-energy emission due to azimuthal asymmetries caused by the presence of the companion star. Both orbital-phase dependentγγ absorption and Compton scattering of optical/UV photons from the companion star may lead to an orbital modulation of the gamma-ray emission. We make specific predictions which should be testable with refined data from HESS and the upcoming GLAST mission.     

The Large-Scale, Decelerating X-ray Jets from the Microquasar Xte J1550−564: Evidence for External Shocks Caused by the Jet-Ism Interaction?

Large-scale, decelerating, relativistic X-ray jets from microquasar XTE J1550−564 has been recently discovered with Chandra by Corbel et al. (2002). We find that the dynamical evolution of the approaching jet at the late time is consistent with the well-known Sedov evolutionary phase R∝ t ^2/5. A trans-relativistic external shock dynamic model by analogy with the evolution of gamma-ray burst remnants, is shown to be able to fit the proper-motion data of the approaching jet reasonably well. The inferred interstellar medium density around the source is well below the canonical value n _ISM∼1 cm⁻³. The rapidly fading X-ray emission can be interpreted as synchrotron radiation from the non-thermal electrons in the adiabatically expanding ejecta. These electrons were accelerated by the reverse shock (moving back into the ejecta) which becomes important when the inertia of the swept external matter leads to an appreciable slowing down of the original ejecta.     

Secondary leptons synchrotron emission from microquasar jets

We present a model to estimate the synchrotron radio emission generated in microquasar (MQ) jets due to secondary pairs created via decay of charged pions produced in proton-proton collisions between stellar wind ions and jet relativistic protons. The synchrotron radiation produced by secondary electrons/positrons is computed using consistently derived particle energy distributions. Energy losses due to synchrotron and inverse Compton (IC) processes, and adiabatic expansion, are taken into account. The space parameter for the model is explored and the corresponding spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are presented. We conclude that secondary leptonic emission represents a significant though hardly dominant contribution to the total radio emission in MQs, with observational consequences that can be used to test some still unknown processes occurring in these objects as well as the nature of the matter outflowing in their jets.      

Electron surfing acceleration in oblique magnetic fields

Initially, inhomogeneous plasma jets, ejected by active galactic nuclei and associated with gamma-ray bursts, are thermalized by the formation of internal shocks. Jet subpopulations can hereby collide at Lorentz factors of a few. As the resulting relativistic shock expands into the upstream plasma, a significant fraction of the upstream ions is reflected. These ions, together with downstream ions that leak through the shock, form relativistic beams of ions that outrun the shock. The thermalization of these beams via the two-stream instability is thought to contribute significantly to plasma heating and particle acceleration by the shock. Here, the capability of a two-stream instability to generate relativistic field-aligned and cross-field electron flow, is examined for a magnetized plasma by means of a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. The electrons interact with the developing quasi-electrostatic waves and oblique magnetic fields. The simulation results bring forward evidence that such waves, by their non-linear interactions with the plasma, produce a highly relativistic field-aligned electron flow and electron energies, which could contribute to the radio synchrotron emissions from astrophysical jets, to ultrarelativistic leptonic subpopulations propagating with the jet and to the halo particles surrounding the accretion disc of the black hole.     

γ射线暴X射线耀发的研究进展

γ射线暴是宇宙中恒星尺度的最剧烈爆发现象。γ射线暴瞬时辐射结束后,进入余辉辐射阶段。X射线耀发是γ射线暴X射线辐射衰减过程中出现的短时标闪耀现象。X射线耀发的脉冲轮廓具有不对称性,其上升时标小于下降时标。在部分γ射线暴中,X射线耀发的亮度达到瞬时辐射的亮度。X射线耀发的持续时间与峰值时间具有线性关系。X射线耀发的光谱比X射线余辉的光谱硬。早期X射线耀发与晚期X射线耀发相比,其脉冲轮廓较窄,光谱较硬。X射线耀发产生的物理过程类似于γ射线暴瞬时辐射的物理过程。在火球(fireball)模型中,内部壳层之间发生碰撞,产生的内激波加速电子,电子的同步辐射产生X射线耀发。当火球扫过星际介质,外激波加速电子时,电子的同步辐射也可产生X射线耀发。在光球(photospere)模型中,能量耗散发生在光学厚的区域,热辐射的光谱峰值落在X射线能段附近,γ射线暴的喷流在光球半径处会产生X射线耀发。如果射线暴喷流由坡印亭能流主导,喷流就会与星际介质相互作用,磁场的不稳定性使磁场发生耗散,产生的能量形成X射线耀发。γ射线暴的喷流具有几何效应。一部分同步辐射可能发生在喷流辐射面的高纬度处。由于曲率效应(curvature effect),各向异性辐射与各向同性辐射相比,X射线耀发的峰值出现较晚。此外,在γ射线暴发生后,黑洞会间歇性地吸积外部介质。在吸积过程中,黑洞周围的磁场会调节吸积的速率和喷流中的能量,这是出现多个X射线耀发的原因。     

Radiative losses and cut-offs of energetic particles at relativistic shocks

We investigate the acceleration and simultaneous radiative losses of electrons in the vicinity of relativistic shocks. Particles undergo pitch angle diffusion, gaining energy as they cross the shock by the Fermi mechanism and also emitting synchrotron radiation in the ambient magnetic field. A semi-analytic approach is developed which allows us to consider the behaviour of the shape of the spectral cut-off and the variation of that cut-off with the particle pitch angle. The implications for the synchrotron emission of relativistic jets, such as those in gamma-ray burst sources and blazars, are discussed.     

Possibility of Saturnian synchrotron radiation

Several synchrotron spectra are computed for a hypothetical Saturnian radiation belt. A monoenergetic distribution of relativistic electrons is assumed to exist in a toroidal volume in a dipole magnetic field aligned with the rotation axis. When synchrotron emission is added to the thermal component implied by observations at wavelengths shorter than 50 cm, the upturn in the total emission spectrum can become gradual to quite sharp depending on the critical wavelength and the number density of radiating electrons. As an example, the ranges of magnetic field intensity, and electron energy and density are tabulated for an estimate of the nonthermal component at the longest decimetric wavelength observation. The present observations are insufficient to determine the critical wavelength; but, for several estimates of the magnetic field loading factor, the minimum surface magnetic field intensity and minimum electron number density are computed.     

Coherent synchrotron emission observed: implications for radio astronomy

Synchrotron radiation by relativistic electrons spiralling in magnetic fields is a mainstay of radio astronomy, accounting for emissions from many objects. Conventional models assume that electrons radiate singly, so power scales with number of electrons. Yet recently jets from active galactic nuclei have shown very high luminosity, inconsistent with plausible single-particle synchrotron emission. We report experiments showing that, by stimulating plasma instabilities with relativistic electron beams, one can induce increases in the synchrotron emission by factors of ∼10⁶. Enhancement presumably arises from coherent bunching of the relativistic electrons as they spiral in an ambient magnetic field. Polarization measurements suggest that electrons radiatively cooperate on scales of ∼6.6 cm. Radio telescope Stokes parameters may be able to reveal such polarization effects in high-brightness sources, a new observing diagnostic.     

Linkage between accretion disks and blazars

The magnetic field in an accretion disk is estimated assuming that all of the angular momentum within prescribed accretion disk radii is removed by a jet. The magnetic field estimated at the base of the jet is extrapolated to the blazar emission region using a model for a relativistic axisymmetric jet combined with some simplifying assumptions based on the relativistic nature of the flow. The extrapolated magnetic field is compared with estimates based upon the synchrotron and inverse Compton emission from three blazars, MKN 501, MKN 421 and PKS 2155-304. The magnetic fields evaluated from pure synchrotron self-Compton models are inconsistent with the magnetic fields extrapolated in this way. However, in two cases inverse Compton models in which a substantial part of the soft photon field is generated locally agree well, mainly because these models imply magnetic field strengths consistent with an important Poynting Flux component. This comparison is based on estimating the mass accretion rate from the jet energy flux. Further comparisons along these lines will be facilitated by independent estimates of the mass accretion rate in blazars and by more detailed models for jet propagation near the black hole.     

The power of blazar jets

We estimate the power of relativistic, extragalactic jets by modelling the spectral energy distribution of a large number of blazars. We adopt a simple one-zone, homogeneous, leptonic synchrotron and inverse Compton model, taking into account seed photons originating both locally in the jet and externally. The blazars under study have an often dominant high-energy component which, if interpreted as due to inverse Compton radiation, limits the value of the magnetic field within the emission region. As a consequence, the corresponding Poynting flux cannot be energetically dominant. Also the bulk kinetic power in relativistic leptons is often smaller than the dissipated luminosity. This suggests that the typical jet should comprise an energetically dominant proton component. If there is one proton per relativistic electrons, jets radiate around 2–10 per cent of their power in high-power blazars and 3–30 per cent in less powerful BL Lacs.     

The flat synchrotron spectra of partially self-absorbed jets revisited

Flat radio spectra with large brightness temperatures at the core of active galactic nuclei and X-ray binaries are usually interpreted as the partially self-absorbed bases of jet flows emitting synchrotron radiation. Here we extend previous models of jets propagating at large angles to our line of sight to self-consistently include the effects of energy losses of the relativistic electrons due to the synchrotron process itself and the adiabatic expansion of the jet flow. We also take into account energy gains through self-absorption. Two model classes are presented. The ballistic jet flows, with the jet material travelling along straight trajectories, and adiabatic jets. Despite the energy losses, both scenarios can result in flat emission spectra; however, the adiabatic jets require a specific geometry. No re-acceleration process along the jet is needed for the electrons. We apply the models to observational data of the X-ray binary Cygnus X-1. Both models can be made consistent with the observations. The resulting ballistic jet is extremely narrow with a jet opening angle of only 5 arcsec. Its energy transport rate is small compared to the time-averaged jet power and therefore suggests the presence of non-radiating protons in the jet flow. The adiabatic jets require a strong departure from energy equipartition between the magnetic field and the relativistic electrons. These models also imply a jet power of two orders of magnitude higher than the Eddington limiting luminosity of a  10-M_⊙  black hole. The models put strong constraints on the physical conditions in the jet flows on scales well below achievable resolution limits.