Jet Composition under Scrutiny

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Christian Fendt; Professor Dr. Karl Mannheim
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 443220636

The goal of this proposal is to shed light on the plasma composition in AGN jets that is a long-standing question since the seminal work by Blandford and Znajek as early as 1977. Although a basic framework for describing extragalactic jets exists, their unknown plasma composition has always rendered the interpretation of observational data and the understanding of their launching mechanism difficult. This project will combine two distinct, but complementary approaches to the problem, that are in fact highly interrelated. That is (i) modeling the jet plasma dynamics by relativistic MHD simulations, and (ii) modeling of the spectral energy distribution from high energy particles in the jet. Sub-project (ii) will benefit from the realistic physical modeling of the jet dynamics from its launching area to (almost) pc scales including resistive effects as e.g. reconnection flares, and sub-project (i) may apply more realistic cooling of the jet plasma.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 5195: Relativistic Jets in Active Galaxies
• International Connection: India
• Cooperation Partner: Dr. Bhargav Vaidya