A numerical model of parsec scale SSC morphologies and their radio emission

TL;DR

This paper introduces a spatially resolved SSC model for parsec-scale AGN jets, linking radio and high-energy emissions, and successfully models the blazar Mkn501's observational data.

Contribution

It extends SSC models to parsec scales with full time dependence, revealing how radial confinement influences spectral energy distribution and radio spectra.

Findings

Spectral energy distribution depends on particle confinement behind the shock.

Initial linear increase of the jet radius is necessary for flat radio spectra.

Model fits well with observational data of blazar Mkn501.

Abstract

In current models for jets of AGNs and their emission a shortcoming in the description and understanding of the connection between the largest and smallest scales exists. In this work we present a spatially resolved SSC model extended to parsec scales, which opens the possibility of probing the connections between the radio and high energy properties. We simulate an environment that leads to Fermi-I acceleration of leptonic particles and includes the full time dependence of this process. Omitting the restriction of a finite downstream region, we find that the spectral energy distribution (SED) produced by the accelerated particles strongly depends on their radial confinement behind the shock. The requirement, for both the restriction of high energy emission to a small region around the shock and the production of a flat radio spectrum, is an initial linear increase of the radius immediately behind the shock, which then slows down with increasing distance from the shock. A good representation of the data for the Blazar \textit{Mkn501} is achieved by a parameterized log-function. The prediction for the shape of the radio blob is given by the flux distribution with respect to shock distance.