Self-consistent evolution of gas and cosmic rays in Cygnus A and similar FR II classic double radio sources

TL;DR

This paper models the self-consistent evolution of gas and cosmic rays in Cygnus A, revealing how cosmic ray energy flow from hotspots shapes the dynamics and observable features of FR II radio sources.

Contribution

It introduces a computational model that tracks the coupled evolution of gas and cosmic rays in radio lobes, emphasizing the role of cosmic ray flow from hotspots.

Findings

Cosmic ray energy flow from hotspots dominates Cygnus A's evolution.

Mass flow into hotspots is minimal, preserving observed lobe age segregation.

Hotspot cosmic ray mixing heats gas, affecting pressure and emission.

Abstract

In Cygnus A and other classical FR II double radio sources, powerful opposing jets from the cores of halo-centered galaxies drive out into the surrounding cluster gas, forming hotspots of shocked and compressed cluster gas at the jet extremities. The moving hotspots are sandwiched between two shocks. An inner-facing shock receives momentum and cosmic rays from the jet and creates additional cosmic rays that form a radio lobe elongated along the jet axis. An outer-facing bow shock moves directly into the undisturbed group or cluster gas, creating a cocoon of shocked gas enclosing the radio lobe. We describe computations that follow the self-consistent dynamical evolution of the shocked cluster gas and the relativistic synchrotron-emitting gas inside the lobes. Relativistic and non-relativistic components exchange momentum by interacting with small magnetic fields having dynamically negligible energy densities. The evolution of Cygnus A is governed almost entirely by cosmic ray energy flowing from the hotspots. Mass flowing into hotspots from the jets is assumed to be small, greatly reducing the mass of gas flowing back along the jet, common in previous calculations, that would disrupt the spatial segregation of synchrotron-loss ages observed inside FR II radio lobes. We compute the evolution of the cocoon when the velocity and cosmic ray luminosity of the hotspots are constant and when they vary with time. If cosmic rays mix with cluster gas in hotspots before flowing into the radio lobe, the thermal gas is heated to mildly relativistic temperatures, producing an unobserved pressure inside the lobe.