Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei

TL;DR

This paper reviews the multiwavelength observations and physical models of jets in active galactic nuclei, highlighting their energetic, radiative, and relativistic properties across different scales.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of observational data and a physical framework for understanding the structure and dynamics of AGN jets.

Findings

Jets can carry a significant fraction of black hole accretion power.

Jets exhibit high Lorentz factors, reaching 40 or more.

Multiwavelength observations reveal variability and complex structures.

Abstract

The jets of active galactic nuclei can carry a large fraction of the accreted power of the black-hole system into interstellar and even extragalactic space. They radiate profusely from radio to X-ray and gamma-ray frequencies. In the most extreme cases, the outward flow speeds correspond to high Lorentz factors that can reach 40 or more. This chapter displays images at various wavebands as well as light curves and continuum spectra that illustrate the variability with location, time, and frequency of the emission from compact, parsec- and subparsec-scale jets. It presents a physical framework for investigating many aspects of the structure and dynamical processes from such data.