Open AccessOn the dynamical evolution of hotspots in powerful radio‐loud active galactic nuclei
Author(s) -
Kawakatu N.,
Kino M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10574.x
Subject(s) - physics , active galactic nucleus , astrophysics , kinetic energy , astrophysical jet , radio galaxy , jet (fluid) , galaxy , momentum (technical analysis) , flux (metallurgy) , astronomy , classical mechanics , mechanics , materials science , finance , economics , metallurgy
We describe the dynamical evolution of hotspots velocity, pressure and mass density in radio‐loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs), taking proper account of (1) the conservations of the mass, momentum and kinetic energy flux of the unshocked jet, (2) the deceleration process of the jet by shocks and (3) the cocoon expansion without assuming the constant aspect ratio of the cocoon. By the detailed comparison with two‐dimensional relativistic hydrodynamic simulations, we show that our model well reproduces the whole evolution of relativistic jets. Our model can explain also the observational trends of the velocity, the pressure, the size and mass density of hotspots in compact symmetric objects (CSOs) and Fanaroff–Riley type II (FR II) radio galaxies.