Magnetic Dissipation in Relativistic Jets

Author(s)

Mizuno, Yosuke ; Gomez, Jose L. ; Nishikawa, Ken-Ichi ; Meli, Athina ; Hardee, Philip E. ; Rezzolla, Luciano ; Singh, Chandra B. ; de Gouveia Dal Pino, Elisabete M.

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: GALAXIES; v. 4, n. 4 DEC 2016.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The most promising mechanisms for producing and accelerating relativistic jets, and maintaining collimated structure of relativistic jets involve magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) processes. We have investigated the magnetic dissipation mechanism in relativistic jets via relativistic MHD simulations. We found that the relativistic jets involving a helical magnetic field are unstable for the current-driven kink instability, which leads to helically distorted structure in relativistic jets. We identified the regions of high current density in filamentary current sheets, indicative of magnetic reconnection, which are associated to the kink unstable regions and correlated to the converted regions of magnetic to kinetic energies of the jets. We also found that an over-pressured relativistic jet leads to the generation of a series of stationary recollimation shocks and rarefaction structures by the nonlinear interaction of shocks and rarefaction waves. The differences in the recollimation shock structure due to the difference of the magnetic field topologies and strengths may be observable through mm-VLBI observations and space-VLBI mission. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 09/54006-4 - A computer cluster for the Astronomy Department of the University of São Paulo Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences and for the Cruzeiro do Sul University Astrophysics Center
• Grantee: Elisabete Maria de Gouveia Dal Pino
• Support type: Multi-user Equipment Program
• FAPESP's process: 13/10559-5 - Investigation of high energy and plasma astrophysics phenomena: theory, numerical simulations, observations, and instrument development for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA)
• Grantee: Elisabete Maria de Gouveia Dal Pino
• Support type: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 13/09065-8 - Origin and collimation of compact source jets and acceleration mechanisms
• Grantee: Chandra Bahadur Singh
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate