No Arabic abstract
We present the results of two-temperature magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the propagation of sub-relativistic jets of active galactic nuclei. The dependence of the electron and ion temperature distributions on the fraction of electron heating fe at the shock front is studied for fe=0, 0.05, and 0.2. Numerical results indicate that in sub-relativistic, rarefied jets, the jet plasma crossing the terminal shock forms a hot, two-temperature plasma in which the ion temperature is higher than the electron temperature. The two-temperature plasma expands and forms a backflow referred to as a cocoon, in which the ion temperature remains higher than the electron temperature for longer than 100 Myr. Electrons in the cocoon are continuously heated by ions through Coulomb collisions, and the electron temperature thus remains at Te > 10^9 K in the cocoon. X-ray emissions from the cocoon are weak because the electron number density is low. Meanwhile, soft X-rays are emitted from the shocked intracluster medium surrounding the cocoon. Mixing of the jet plasma and the shocked intracluster medium through the Kelvin--Helmholtz instability at the interface enhances X-ray emissions around the contact discontinuity between the cocoon and shocked intracluster medium.
We investigate the origin of the soft X-ray excess component in Seyfert galaxies observed when their luminosity exceeds 0.1% of the Eddington luminosity ($L_{mathrm{Edd}}$). The evolution of a dense blob in radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF) is simulated by applying a radiation magnetohydrodynamic code, CANS+R. When the accretion rate onto a $10^7M_{odot}$ black hole exceeds 10% of the Eddington accretion rate ($dot M_{rm Edd}=L_{rm Edd}/c^2$, where $c$ is the speed of light)}, the dense blob shrinks vertically because of radiative cooling and forms a Thomson thick, relatively cool ($sim10^{7-8}$ K) region. The cool region coexists with the optically thin, hot ($Tsim10^{11}~mathrm{K}$) RIAF near the black hole. The cool disk is responsible for the soft X-ray emission, while hard X-rays are emitted from the hot inner accretion flow. The soft X-ray emitting region coexists with the optically thin, hot ($T sim 10^{11}~mathrm{K}$), radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF) near the black hole. Such a hybrid structure of hot and cool accretion flows is consistent with the observations of both hard and soft X-ray emissions from `changing-look active galactic nuclei (CLAGN). Furthermore, we find that quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) are excited in the soft X-ray emitting region. These oscillations can be the origin of rapid X-ray time variabilities observed in CLAGN.
Barred galaxies are known to possess magnetic fields that may affect the properties of bar substructures such as dust lanes and nuclear rings. We use two-dimensional high-resolution magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations to investigate the effects of magnetic fields on the formation and evolution of such substructures as well as on the mass inflow rates to the galaxy center. The gaseous medium is assumed to be infinitesimally-thin, isothermal, non-self-gravitating, and threaded by initially uniform, azimuthal magnetic fields. We find that there exists an outermost x1-orbit relative to which gaseous responses to an imposed stellar bar potential are completely different between inside and outside. Inside this orbit, gas is shocked into dust lanes and infalls to form a nuclear ring. Magnetic fields are compressed in dust lanes, reducing their peak density. Magnetic stress removes further angular momentum of the gas at the shocks, temporarily causing the dust lanes to bend into an L shape and eventually leading to a smaller and more centrally distributed ring than in unmagnetized models. The mass inflow rates in magnetized models correspondingly become larger, by more than two orders of magnitude when the initial fields have an equipartition value with thermal energy, than in the unmagnetized counterparts. Outside the outermost x1-orbit, on the other hand, an MHD dynamo due to the combined action of the bar potential and background shear operates near the corotation and bar-end regions, efficiently amplifying magnetic fields. The amplified fields shape into trailing magnetic arms with strong fields and low density. The base of the magnetic arms has a thin layer in which magnetic fields with opposite polarity reconnect via a tearing-mode instability. This produces numerous magnetic islands with large density which propagate along the arms to turn the outer disk into a highly chaotic state.
The wide-area XMM-XXL X-ray survey is used to explore the fraction of obscured AGN at high accretion luminosities, $L_X (rm 2-10 , keV) > 10^{44} , erg ,s ^{-1}$, and out to redshift $zapprox1.5$. The sample covers an area of about $rm14,deg^2$ and provides constraints on the space density of powerful AGN over a wide range of neutral hydrogen column densities extending beyond the Compton-thick limit, $rm N_Happrox10^{24},cm^{-2}$. The fraction of obscured Compton-thin ($rm N_H=10^{22}-10^{24},cm^{-2}$) AGN is estimated to be $approx0.35$ for luminosities $L_X(rm 2-10,keV)>10^{44},erg,s^{-1}$ independent of redshift. For less luminous sources the fraction of obscured Compton-thin AGN increases from $0.45pm0.10$ at $z=0.25$ to $0.75pm0.05$ at $z=1.25$. Studies that select AGN in the infrared via template fits to the observed Spectral Energy Distribution of extragalactic sources estimate space densities at high accretion luminosities consistent with the XMM-XXL constraints. There is no evidence for a large population of AGN (e.g. heavily obscured) identified in the infrared and missed at X-ray wavelengths. We further explore the mid-infrared colours of XMM-XXL AGN as a function of accretion luminosity, column density and redshift. The fraction of XMM-XXL sources that lie within the mid-infrared colour wedges defined in the literature to select AGN is primarily a function of redshift. This fraction increases from about 20-30% at z=0.25 to about 50-70% at $z=1.5$.
We explore the physics of the gyro-resonant cosmic ray streaming instability (CRSI) including the effects of ion-neutral (IN) damping. This is the main damping mechanism in (partially-ionized) atomic and molecular gas, which are the primary components of the interstellar medium (ISM) by mass. Limitation of CRSI by IN damping is important in setting the amplitude of Alfven waves that scatter cosmic rays and control galactic-scale transport. Our study employs the MHD-PIC hybrid fluid-kinetic numerical technique to follow linear growth as well as post-linear and saturation phases. During the linear phase of the instability -- where simulations and analytical theory are in good agreement -- IN damping prevents wave growth at small and large wavelengths, with the unstable bandwidth lower for higher ion-neutral collision rate $ u_{rm in}$. Purely MHD effects during the post-linear phase extend the wave spectrum towards larger $k$. In the saturated state, the cosmic ray distribution evolves toward greater isotropy (lower streaming velocity) by scattering off of Alven waves excited by the instability. In the absence of low-$k$ waves, CRs with sufficiently high momentum are not isotropized. The maximum wave amplitude and rate of isotropization of the distribution function decreases at higher $ u_{rm in}$. When the IN damping rate approaches the maximum growth rate of CSRI, wave growth and isotropization is suppressed. Implications of our results for CR transport in partially ionized ISM phases are discussed.
The velocity field of the M87 jet from milli-arcsecond (mas) to arcsecond scales is extensively investigated together with new radio images taken by EVN observations. We detected proper motions of components located at between 160 mas from the core and the HST-1 complex for the first time. Newly derived velocity fields exhibits a systematic increase from sub-to-superluminal speed in the upstream of HST-1. If we assume that the observed velocities reflect the bulk flow, we here suggest that the M87 jet may be gradually accelerated through a distance of 10^6 times of the Schwarzschild radius of the supermassive black hole. The acceleration zone is co-spatial with the jet parabolic region, which is interpreted as the collimation zone of the jet (Asada & Nakamura 2012). The acceleration and collimation take place simultaneously, which we suggest a characteristic of magnetohydrodynamic flows. Distribution of the velocity field has a peak at HST-1, which is considered as the site of over-collimation, and shows a deceleration downstream of HST-1 where the jet is conical. Our interpretation of the velocity map in the M87 jet gives a hypothesis in AGNs that the acceleration and collimation zone of relativistic jets extends over the whole scale within the sphere of influence of the supermassive black hole.