LOFAR VLBI Studies at 55 MHz of 4C 43.15, a z=2.4 Radio Galaxy

TL;DR

This study uses LOFAR VLBI at 55 MHz to spatially resolve a high-redshift radio galaxy, revealing spectral properties that help understand particle acceleration and spectral steepening mechanisms.

Contribution

First spatially resolved low-frequency VLBI study of a z=2.4 radio galaxy, providing insights into spectral index variation and particle acceleration at high redshift.

Findings

Extended low-frequency emission along the jet axis

Spectral break between 500 MHz and 1.4 GHz

Spectral indices similar to local radio galaxies

Abstract

The correlation between radio spectral index and redshift has been exploited to discover high redshift radio galaxies, but its underlying cause is unclear. It is crucial to characterise the particle acceleration and loss mechanisms in high redshift radio galaxies to understand why their radio spectral indices are steeper than their local counterparts. Low frequency information on scales of $\sim$1 arcsec are necessary to determine the internal spectral index variation. In this paper we present the first spatially resolved studies at frequencies below 100 MHz of the $z = 2.4$ radio galaxy 4C 43.15 which was selected based on its ultra-steep spectral index ($\alpha < -1$; $S_{\nu} \sim \nu^{\alpha}$ ) between 365 MHz and 1.4 GHz. Using the International Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) Low Band Antenna we achieve sub-arcsecond imaging resolution at 55 MHz with VLBI techniques. Our study reveals low-frequency radio emission extended along the jet axis, which connects the two lobes. The integrated spectral index for frequencies $<$ 500 MHz is -0.83. The lobes have integrated spectral indices of -1.31$\pm$0.03 and -1.75$\pm$0.01 for frequencies $\geq$1.4 GHz, implying a break frequency between 500 MHz and 1.4 GHz. These spectral properties are similar to those of local radio galaxies. We conclude that the initially measured ultra-steep spectral index is due to a combination of the steepening spectrum at high frequencies with a break at intermediate frequencies.