Relativistic Flows in Astrophysics / Edition 1

by A.W. Guthmann, M. Georganopoulos, A. Marcowith, K. Manolakou

Overview

1. 1 Schematic Picture of AGN Some galaxies are known to emit radiation with extremely high luminosities from a rather small volume in the γ-ray, X-ray and UV continuum. Such active cores are the so-called Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and the radiation is commonly believed to be a result of gravitational energy released by matter spiraling around 9 a supermassive central black hole of about 10 M (see Fig. 1). Though the central engine which produces the enormous observed activity cannot be resolved observationally, a standard picture of an AGN has gradually emerged to explain the richness of the radiation spectra: • an accretion disk with radius from about 2 to 100 gravitational radii, R , g feeding the central black hole and emitting mainly in the UV and soft X-rays; • the broad line optically emitting clouds (BLR), which seem to be absent in 3 some sources (e. g. FRI, see hereafter) and extend up to a few 10 R from g the center.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783642078040
Publisher:	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publication date:	12/03/2010
Series:	Lecture Notes in Physics , #589
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of hardcover 1st ed. 2002
Pages:	246
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.24(d)

Table of Contents

Radiative Processes in Relativistic Outflows.- Particle Acceleration at Relativistic Shocks.- Jet Formation and Collimation.- The Evolution of Classical Double Radio Galaxies.- Blazars.- Relativistic Outflows from X-ray Binaries (‘Microquasars’).- Gamma-Ray Bursts: The Afterglow Revolution.- Observations and Simulations of Relativistic Jets.- 3D Relativistic Hydrodynamics.- Epilogue.