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Waves in Poynting-flux dominated jets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2011

John G. Kirk  and
Iwona Mochol
John G. Kirk
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Postfach 10 39 80, 69029 Heidelberg, Germany email: john.kirk@mpi-hd.mpg.de, iwona.mochol@mpi-hd.mpg.de
Iwona Mochol
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Postfach 10 39 80, 69029 Heidelberg, Germany email: john.kirk@mpi-hd.mpg.de, iwona.mochol@mpi-hd.mpg.de
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Abstract

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High-energy emission from blazars is thought to arise in a relativistic jet launched by a supermassive black hole. The rapid variability of the emission suggests that structure of length scale smaller than the gravitational radius of the central black hole is imprinted on the jet as it is launched, and modulates the radiation released after it has been accelerated to high Lorentz factor. We describe a mechanism which can account for the acceleration of the jet, and for the rapid variability of the radiation, based on the propagation characteristics of nonlinear waves in charge-starved, polar jets. These exhibit a delayed acceleration phase, that kicks-in when the inertia associated with the wave currents becomes important. The time structure imprinted on the jet at launch modulates the photons produced by the accelerating jet provided that the electromagnetic cascade in the black-hole magnetosphere is not prolific.

Keywords

MHD – plasmas – waves – BL Lacertae objects: general
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 6 , Symposium S275: Jets at all Scales , September 2010 , pp. 77 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

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