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Shockwaves in Extended Near-Relativistic Jets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2017

Peter L. Biermann
Affiliation:
Max–Planck–Institut für Radioastronomie Auf dem Hügel 69, D–5300 Bonn 1, W. Germany
Peter A. Strittmatter
Affiliation:
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA

Abstract

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The origin of the sharp near infrared cutoff in the continuous energy distribution of many compact non-thermal sources (active nuclei or knots in jets) is considered under the assumption that particle acceleration takes place in shockwaves. Energy losses due to synchrotron emission and Compton interactions set upper limits to both electron and proton energies. In this case the upstream disturbance of the flow is dominated by the most energetic protons which are postulated, by analogy with the solar wind, to excite a turbulent wave spectrum of Kolmogorov type in this region. We predict for near relativistic flows a spectral cutoff near 3 1014 Hz independent of magnetic field. The observation of a sharp spectral cutoff near 3 1014 Hz is thus independent evidence for near–relativistic flows in jets.

Type
Extragalactic
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1988 

References

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