Physical conditions in the nucleus of the radio galaxy 3C 274

Interplanetary scintillation observations of the compact nucleus of 3C 274 have been carried out at 111 MHz on on the Large Phased Array radio telescope. We have derived an upper limit for the flux density of the compact radio source, and determined the parameters of the low-frequency cutoff of the spectrum of this source. We have analyzed the observational data assuming that the low-frequency spectral cutoff is due to synchrotron self-absorption. In this case, the magnetic field in the nucleus of 3C 274 must be very nonuniform. At the center, on scales of < 0.01 pc, the magnetic field varies in the range 0.4 G < H < 40 G, while its mean value over the entire radio source is 〈H〉 ～ 10^?3 ? 10^?4 G. The energy density of the relativistic electrons exceeds the energy density of the magnetic field everywhere within the nucleus, though energy equipartition is also possible near the center.