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We have developed a quasi-analytical model for the production of radiation in strong-line blazars, assuming a spine-sheath jet structure. The model allows us to study how the spine and sheath spectral components depend on parameters describing the geometrical and physical structure of the blazar zone. We show that typical broad-band spectra of strong-line blazars can be reproduced by assuming the magnetization parameter to be of order unity and reconnection to be the dominant dissipation mechanism. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the spine-sheath model can explain why gamma-ray variations are often observed to have much larger amplitudes than the corresponding optical variations. The model is also less demanding of jet power than one-zone models, and can reproduce the basic features of extreme gamma-ray events.
We present Space-VLBI RadioAstron observations at 1.6 GHz and 4.8 GHz of the flat spectrum radio quasar 3C 273, with detections on baselines up to 4.5 and 3.3 Earth Diameters, respectively. Achieving the best angular resolution at 1.6 GHz to date, we have imaged limb-brightening in the jet, not previously detected in this source. In contrast, at 4.8 GHz, we detected emission from a central stream of plasma, with a spatial distribution complementary to the limb-brightened emission, indicating an origin in the spine of the jet. While a stratification across the jet width in the flow density, internal energy, magnetic field, or bulk flow velocity are usually invoked to explain the limb-brightening, the different jet structure detected at the two frequencies probably requires a stratification in the emitting electron energy distribution. Future dedicated numerical simulations will allow the determination of which combination of physical parameters are needed to reproduce the spine/sheath structure observed by Space-VLBI with RadioAstron in 3C 273
GRB 090618 is a bright GRB with multiple pulses. It shows evidence of thermal emission in the initial pulses as well as in the early afterglow phase. As high resolution spectral data of emph{Swift}/XRT is available for the early afterglow, we investigate the shape and evolution of the thermal component in this phase using data from the emph{Swift}/BAT, the emph{Swift}/XRT, and the emph{Fermi}/GBM detectors. An independent fit to the BAT and XRT data reveals two correlated blackbodies with monotonically decreasing temperatures. Hence we investigated the combined data with a model consisting of two blackbodies and a power-law (2BBPL), a model suggested for several bright GRBs. We elicit the following interesting features of the 2BBPL model: a) the same model is applicable from the peak of the last pulse in the prompt emission to the afterglow emission, b) the ratio of temperatures and the fluxes of the two black bodies remains constant throughout the observations, c) the black body temperatures and fluxes show a monotonic decrease with time, with the BB fluxes dropping about a factor of two faster than that of the power-law emission, d) attributing the blackbody emission to photospheric emissions, we find that the photospheric radii increase very slowly with time, and the lower temperature blackbody shows a larger emitting radius than that of the higher temperature black body. We find some evidence that the underlying shape of the non-thermal emission is a cut-off power-law rather than a power-law. We sketch a spine-sheath jet model to explain our observations.
An improved description for nonlinear plasma wakefields with phase velocities near the speed of light is presented and compared against fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations. These wakefields are excited by intense particle beams or lasers pushing plasma electrons radially outward, creating an ion bubble surrounded by a sheath of electrons characterized by the source term $S equiv -frac{1}{en_p}(rho-J_z/c)$ where $rho$ and $J_z$ are the charge and axial current densities. Previously, the sheath source term was described phenomenologically with a positive-definite function, resulting in a positive definite wake potential. In reality, the wake potential is negative at the rear of the ion column which is important for self-injection and accurate beam loading models. To account for this, we introduce a multi-sheath model in which the source term, $S$, of the plasma wake can be negative in regions outside the ion bubble. Using this model, we obtain a new expression for the wake potential and a modified differential equation for the bubble radius. Numerical results obtained from these equations are validated against particle-in-cell simulations for unloaded and loaded wakes. The new model provides accurate predictions of the shape and duration of trailing bunch current profiles that flatten plasma wakefields. It is also used to design a trailing bunch for a desired longitudinally varying loaded wakefield. We present beam loading results for laser wakefields and discuss how the model can be improved for laser drivers in future work. Finally, we discuss differences between the predictions of the multi- and single-sheath models for beam loading.
The author is developing a numerical code with thousands of emission zones to simulate the time-dependent multi-waveband emission from blazars. The code is based on a model in which turbulent plasma flowing at a relativistic speed down a jet crosses a standing conical collimation shock that accelerates electrons to maximum energies in the 5-100 GeV range. This paper reports early results produced by the model. The simulated light curves and time profiles of the degree and position angle of polarization have a number of features in common with the observational data of blazars. Maps of the polarized intensity structure can be compared with those of blazars observed with very long baseline interferometry at short millimeter wavelengths.
Blazars are a sub-category of radio-loud active galactic nuclei with relativistic jets pointing towards the observer. They exhibit non-thermal variable emission, which practically extends over the whole electromagnetic spectrum. Despite the plethora of multi-wavelength observations, the origin of the emission in blazar jets remains an open question. In this work, we construct a two-zone leptonic model: particles accelerate in a small region and lose energy through synchrotron radiation and inverse Compton Scattering. Consequently, the relativistic electrons escape to a larger area where the ambient photon field, which is related to Accretion Disk MHD Winds, could play a central role in the gamma-ray emission. This model explains the Blazar Sequence and the broader properties of blazars, as determined by Fermi observations, by varying only one parameter, the mass accretion rate onto the central black hole. Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars have a strong ambient photon field and their gamma-ray emission is dominated by the more extensive zone, while in the case of BL Lac objects, the negligible ambient photons make the smaller, i.e. acceleration, zone dominant.