Probing the Physics of Active Galactic Nuclei by Multiwavelength Monitoring

Probing the Physics of Active Galactic Nuclei by Multiwavelength Monitoring
Author: Bradley M. Peterson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 568
Release: 2001
Genre: Science
ISBN:

Annotation Papers from a June 2000 meeting discuss multiwavelength monitoring methods for studying active galactic nuclei, the potential of dedicated facilities for multiwavelength monitoring, and future multiwavelength programs. Some topics discussed are multiwavelength observations of blazars, time delays of blazar flares observed at different wavebands, low radiative-efficiency accretion flows, spectrochronography, and variability of the intrinsic UV absorption lines in Seyfert galaxies. Other topics are the variable diffuse continuum emission of broad-line clouds, the MIDEX concept, and the mission. Peterson teaches astronomy at The Ohio State University. This volume lacks a subject index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Multi-wavelength Studies of Active Galactic Nuclei on Parsec and Kiloparsec Scales

Multi-wavelength Studies of Active Galactic Nuclei on Parsec and Kiloparsec Scales
Author: Juan Carlos Algaba
Publisher:
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2010
Genre: Physics
ISBN:

Although the continua of radio-loud Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are typically dominated by synchrotron radiation over virtually the entire spectrum, it is not clear whether the radio and higher-frequency emission originate in the same or different parts of the jet. In some inhomogeneous synchrotron source models for blazars, the radio and UV-optical-IR (UVOIR) emission may be co-spatial, depending on the model parameters considered. Indeed, several different radio{u2013}optical correlations based on polarization data have been found recently, suggesting that the optical and radio polarization may be closely related, and that the corresponding emission regions may be cospatial. My joint analysis of optical and 15+22+43 GHz VLBA polarization data for a sample of about 40 AGNs shows that, after correction for the inferred VLBA core Faraday rotations, most BL Lac objects and some quasars have aligned VLBA-core and optical polarizations, although many quasars also show no obvious relationship between their VLBA-core and optical polarization angles. This apparently indicates that not all AGNs have co-spatial regions of optical and radio emission in their jets. However, another possibility was that some of the 15{u2013}43 GHz VLBA cores have Faraday rotations of the order of several tens of thousand of rad/m2, which were not properly fit using our three-frequency data due to n {u00D7} _ ambiguities in the observed polarization angles, leading to incorrect subtraction of the effects of the core Faraday rotation, and so incorrect {u2018}zero-wavelength{u2019} radio polarization angles. With this is mind, I obtained additional observations for 8 of the 40 AGN, this time at 12+15+22+24+43 GHz, chosen in such a way that we should be able to discern between various possible scenarios. My results indicate that, although some VLBI radio cores have comparatively high rotation measures, this cannot explain the misalignments found between the radio core and optical VLBI polarization angles. I performed a series of analyse to check if this could be explained by other physical processes or properties occurring in the AGN, such as degree of polarization, magnetic field intensity or presence of detectable {u2013}ray emission. No clear differences between the properties of sources with aligned and misaligned radio-core and optical polarization angles was found. The emission from AGN is mostly synchrotron in origin, making it natural that the degree of circular polarization (CP) is low, less than a percent. For this reason, the detection of CP is a non trivial task. However, using recently developed new techniques, I have performed circular polarization analysis on some of my sources. The results indicate that the degree of CP tends to increase with frequency, with the spectral index being either flat or inverted, _ _ +1, which can be explained with a Blandford-Königl jet model. Using the measured intensity, spectral indices and magnetic fields derived from the measured core shift, I have derived the degree of order of the magnetic field required to explain if this observed CP is generated by the synchrotron mechanism. The implied degrees of order of the magnetic field are too high in most cases for the CP to be synchrotron in origin, requiring a substantial (possible dominant) contribution from Faraday conversion of linear to circular polarizaton. A kilo-Parsec multiwavelength study has also been performed on the source PKS 0521{u2013}365. This AGN has been classified as a HYMOR (Hybrid morphology radio source) and has a jet which is clearly detectable over a wide frequency band, ranging from radio to X-rays. This has allowed me to perform a study of its physical properties over radio, near infra-red, optical and X-rays bands, thus obtaining valuable information about its morphology, spectral energy distribution and magnetic field. The data here supports the hypothesis that PKS0521-36 is intermediate between an FRI and FRII source, agreeing with unified scenarios in which the differences between these classes can be understood on a physical basis.

Exploring Active Galactic Nuclei at Extreme Energies

Exploring Active Galactic Nuclei at Extreme Energies
Author: Anton Dmytriiev
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2020
Genre:
ISBN:

Many questions related to the physics of jets of Active Galactic Nuclei remain open. A particular subclass of AGN, blazars, have a jet pointing towards the Earth. Such suitable orientation of the jet allows us to probe a rich variety of poorly understood physical phenomena related to relativistic outflows. Blazars show non-thermal emission, originating from the jet, which is highly variable across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio frequencies to TeV gamma-rays. The energy flux can enhance by an order of magnitude on time-scales as short as minutes, a phenomenon referred to as a “flare”, and as long as months or even years. Despite the growing amount of available multi-wavelength (MWL) data, the origin and the physical mechanisms behind the frequently observed flaring events in blazars are still not well understood. Many attempts have been made to describe the flares with different emission models, but detailed properties of flux variation patterns (light curves) in different wavebands remain difficult to reproduce. In order to identify physical processes that are involved during blazar outbursts, I have developed a versatile radiative code, based on a time-dependent treatment of particle acceleration, escape and radiative cooling. The code computes time evolution of the distribution function of electrons in the blazar emitting zone and the spectrum of the Synchrotron Self-Compton (SSC) emission by these electrons. I applied the code to a giant MWL flare of the blazar Mrk 421, a representative of the BL Lacertae class, which is the brightest VHE flare ever detected from this source. In our approach, we consider the flare as a moderate perturbation of the quiescent state and search for interpretations with a minimum number of free parameters. As a result, I developed a novel physical scenario of the flaring activity that describes the data set, comprising spectra in the high state of the source in different energy ranges, and MWL light curves from the optical domain to the VHE gamma-ray band. In this scenario, the process initiating the outburst is the second-order Fermi acceleration of particles due to turbulence arising in the vicinity of the blazar stationary emission region. In this thesis, I also performed analysis of High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) data of two giant flares of the blazar 3C 279, a representative of the Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQ) class. Finally, I contributed to preparation of Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), which is a new-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory, expected to start operations in 2022. The instrument, which is presently under development, will have greatly improved performance compared to currently operating Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs), including unprecedented spectral coverage from a few tens of GeV to ~300 TeV. In the context of CTA, I performed simulations of the optical performance of the Gamma-Ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT), one of the three proposed designs of Small-Size Telescopes (SST) for CTA. Also, using the observations of bright stars done by the telescope prototype installed on the site of Paris Observatory in Meudon, I studied the effect of micro-roughness of the telescope mirrors on the point spread function (PSF) and calculated the level of the mirror polishing quality required to optimize the performances.

The Physics and Evolution of Active Galactic Nuclei

The Physics and Evolution of Active Galactic Nuclei
Author: Hagai Netzer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2013-09-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1107021510

A comprehensive introduction to the theory underpinning our study of active galactic nuclei and the ways we observe them.