Compact jets as probes for

sub-parsec scale regions

in AGN

Andrei Lobanov

MPIfR Bonn

5th Stromlo Symposium: Disks, Winds & Jets – From Planets to Quasars
 A. Lobanov

The
Theage
nuclear
of innocence
region
is no more ...

The BLR is a … and so is

multicomponent the NLR
complex
There are also those … but they form and
things called corona… propagate probably not
quite the way we
thought they would

Jets are … and ergosphere

everywhere … and they affect
almost everything
Anatomy of Jets
 A. Lobanov

Ultracompact jets
 Location at which jets become visible in radio is most likely
determined solely by τ=1 condition for synchrotron emission
(Königl 1981).

Lobanov & Zensus 1999

Zensus et al. 1995, Lobanov 1996, Klare et al. 2005
 A. Lobanov

Collimation & acceleration

 VLBI observations of compact jets in nearby AGN provide

strong evidence for collimation on linear scales of ~103 RG
and strong accelerations on sub-parscec scales
M 87 Cyg A

230 Rs

Bach et al. 2003

Krichbaum et al. 2006

 Magnetically driven acceleration is a viable explanation

for the observed speeds (Vlahakis & Königl 2004)
 A. Lobanov

Shocks on pc scales
 Strong shocks are clearly present in jets on small scales
(several decaparsecs) – from polarization and distribution of
the synchrotron turnover frequency.

3C 273 Core
J1

J2 J1

Core J2

Carrara et al. 1997

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Shocks on pc scales
 Shock dissipate rapidly while approaching hectoparsec
scales: shock models can no longer explain kinematic and
spectral evolution observed in jets on these scales

Lobanov & Zensus 1999

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Instabilities on pc scales

 Linear regime of K-H instability

λHs=18.0, λEs=12.0, λEb1=4.0, λEb2=1.9

Gj=2.1, Mj=3.5, η=0.02, aj=0.53, vw=0.21

Lobanov & Zensus 2001, Perucho et al. 2006
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Instabilities on kpc scales

 Instabilities dominate the dynamics of kpc-scale jets
M87
Lobanov, Hardee, Eilek 2003

HST D E G I A B C
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Jet disruption on kpc scales

0836+710

Lobanov et al. 2006

Perucho, Lobanov, Martí 2007

Jets and Nuclear Regions
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Nuclear absorption
 Absorption due to several species, most notably HI, CO,
OH, HCO+
 HI absorption toward compact jets is an excellent tool to probe nuclear
regions on parsec scales.
 Good indicator of physical conditions of the neutral gas(Pedlar 2004)

NGC 4151

0.6pc

Mundell et al. 2003

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Binary black holes

Sol, Pelletier, Asséo (1989), Lobanov & Roland (2005)

 Magnetically confined outflow from a binary SMBH.

Jet components are produced by perturbations in the beam
 Explains both the evolution of jet components and optical variability
 The jet contains information about the dynamic state of the binary
 A. Lobanov

BBH in 3C345

M 1 = 7 ⋅108 M sol , M 2 = 7 ⋅108 M sol

amaj = 0.33pc (0.07 mas), e = 0.1
Porb ≈ 480 years,
Pprec ≈ 2500 years
Year

Year
(Lobanov & Roland 2005)
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Flares and accretion disk

 Flares and ejections of new jet components in 3C345 may

be related to the characterstic instability timescales in the
disk at 20-200 Rg

Lobanov & Roland 2005

 A. Lobanov

Nuclear opacity: core shift

 Position offset of the optically

thick „core“ of a VLBI jet can be used
to estimate physical conditions in the
nuclear region of AGN

Core location:
(Königl 1981)

Core offset measure:

Magnetic field and distance to the core:

Lobanov 1998
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 Pressure and density profile in the

broad-line regions; magnetic field
distributions in compact jets

3C345
Lobanov 1998
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Disk-jet connection

 3C120: Ejections of
new component coincide
with minima in the X-ray
light curve: inner disk
evacuation?

(Marscher et al. 2002)

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Jet-BLR connection

 BLRG 3C390.3: ionizing non-thermal continuum from the jet

 Optical emission correlates wtih radio emission from S1
 X-ray minimum close to the ejection epochs of C5 and C6

Arshakian et al. 2006

 A. Lobanov

Jet-BLR connection

 The jet in 3C390.3 may power a BLR associated with a

subrelativistic outflow from the nucleus.
Relativistic jet Subrelativistic outflow /wind

VLBI “core” BLR 2 (outflow)

Corona BLR 1 (disk)

 A. Lobanov

Summary

 Jets are an excellent laboratory for AGN studies

 Small scale jets are dominated by shocks
 At larger scales, shocks dissipate, and Kelvin-Helmholtz
instability determines the structure and dynamics of the flow
 Elliptical and helical modes of K-H instability are most
prominent, leading to eventual disruption of the flow
 Magnetically confined outflows may preserve information
about the dynamic evolution of the nucleus
 Jets can be used as probes of nuclear regions in AGN
 Jet-BLR connection may exist and should be investigated
in detail.