IUCAA Preprints

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Radio continuum

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    Kinematical diagrams for conical relativistic jets
    (2007-03-10) Gopal, Krishna; Sircar, Pronoy; Dhurde, Samir
    We present diagrams depicting the expected inter-dependences of two key kinematical parameters of radio knots in the parsec-scale jets of blazars, deduced from VLBI observations. The two parameters are the apparent speed (vapp = cfJapp) and the effective Doppler boosting factor (Oeff) of the relativistically moving radio knot. A novel aspect of these analytical computations of fJ-o diagrams is that they are made for parsecscale jets having a conical shape, with modest opening angles (w up to 10°), in accord with the VLBI observations of the nuclei of the nearest radio galaxies. Another motivating factor is the recent finding that consideration of a conical geometry can have important implications for the interpretation of a variety of radio observations of blazar jets. In addition to uniform jet flows (i.e., those having a uniform bulk Lorentz factor, r), computational results are also presented for stratified jets where an ultra-relativistic central spine along the jet axis is surrounded by a slower moving sheath, possibly arising from a velocity shear.
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    Influence of the jet opening angle on the derived kinematical parameters of blazar jets having uniform and stratified bulk motion
    (2007-07-26) Krishna, Gopal; Dhurde, Samir; Sircar, Pronoy; et al.
    We present analytical modelling of conical relativistic jets, in order to evaluate the role of the jet opening angle on certain key parameters that are inferred from VLBI radio observations of blazar nuclear jets. The key parameters evaluated are the orientation angle (i.e., the viewing angle) of the jet and the apparent speed and Doppler factor of the radio knots on parsec scales. Quantitative comparisons are made of the influence of the jet opening angle on the above parameters of the radio knots, as would be estimated for two widely discussed variants of relativistic nuclear jets, namely, those having uniform bulk speed and those in which the bulk Lorentz factor of the flow decreases with distance from the jet axis (a ‘spine–sheath’ flow). Our analysis shows that for both types of jet velocity distributions the expectation value of the jet orientation angle at first falls dramatically with increases in the (central) jet Lorentz factor, but it levels off at a fraction of the opening angle for extremely relativistic jets. We also find that the effective values of the apparent speeds and Doppler factors of the knots always decline substantially with increasing jet opening angle, but that this effect is strongest for ultra-relativistic jets with uniform bulk speed. We suggest that the paucity of highly superluminal parsec-scale radio components in TeV blazars can be understood if their jets are highly relativistic and, being intrinsically weaker, somewhat less well collimated, in comparison to the jets in other blazars.
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    Bulk motion of ultrarelativistic conical blazar jets
    (2006-03-27) Krishna, Gopal; Wiita, Paul J.; Dhurde, Samir
    Allowing for the conical shape of ultrarelativistic blazar jets with opening angles of a few degrees on parsec-scales we show that their bulk Lorentz factors and viewing angles can be much larger than the values usually inferred by combining their flux variability and proper motion measurements. This is in accord with our earlier finding that such ultrarelativistic (Lorentz factor, Γ > 30) conical jets can reconcile the relatively slow apparent motions of VLBI knots in TeV blazars with the extremely fast flows implied by their rapid γ-ray variability. This jet geometry also implies that deprojected jet opening angles will typically be significantly underestimated from VLBI measurements. In addition, de-projected jet lengths will be considerably overestimated if high Lorentz factors and significant opening angles are not taken into account.
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    Detailed study of the GRB 030329 radio afterglow deep into the non-relativistic phase
    (2008-01) Horst, A. J. van der; Kamble, A.; Resmi, L.; et al.
    Radio afterglows ever, GRB 030329, at late times when the jet is non- relativistic. Aims. We determine the physical parameters of the blast wave and its surroundings, in particular the index of the electron energy distribution, the energy of the blast wave, and the density (structure) of the circumburst medium. We then compare our results with those from image size measurements. Methods. We observed the GRB030329 radio afterglow with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at frequencies from 325 MHz to 8.4 GHz, spanning a time range of 268-1128 days after the burst. We modeled all the available radio data and derived the physical parameters. Results. The index of the electron energy distribution is p = 2.1, the circumburst medium is homogeneous, and the transition to the non-relativistic phase happens at tNR ∼ 80 days. The energy of the blast wave and density of the surrounding medium are comparable to previous findings. Conclusions. Our findings indicate that the blast wave is roughly spherical at tNR, and they agree with the implications from the VLBI studies of image size evolution. It is not clear from the presented dataset whether we have seen emission from the counter jet or not. We predict that the Low Frequency Array will be able to observe the afterglow of GRB030329 and many other radio afterglows, constraining the physics of the blast wave during its non-relativistic phase even further