An IC/CMB interpretation for the large-scale jet X-ray emission of 3C 273

TL;DR

This paper proposes that inverse Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons explains the X-ray emission from 3C 273's large-scale jet, aligning with Fermi data and suggesting different electron spectra for knots.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the IC/CMB model can explain 3C 273's jet X-ray emission without conflicting with Fermi observations, offering a new interpretation of the jet's spectral energy distribution.

Findings

IC/CMB model explains X-ray emission of 3C 273's jet.

Fermi observations likely originate from the core, not the large-scale jet.

Electron spectra responsible for X-ray emission differ from radio spectra.

Abstract

We present that the model of inverse Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons (IC/CMB) could well explain the large-scale jet X-ray radiation of 3C 273, and does not violate new Fermi observations. For the individual knots, the synchrotron spectrum of the low-energy electrons responsible for the IC/CMB X-ray emission may be different from the extrapolation of the 10GHz radio spectrum of knots. Based on the IC/CMB model for the 3C 273 large-scale jet, the Fermi observations may mainly come from the small-scale jet of 3C 273 (i.e., the core). Future observations could examine our interpretation on the spectral energy distributions (SED) of knots and large-scale jet in 3C 273.