The simultaneity of emission from approaching and receding jets

TL;DR

This paper reveals a unique simultaneity in emission from approaching and receding jets in relativistic systems, proposing methods to test jet symmetry and detect deviations using high-frequency timing and echo mapping techniques.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the standard jet model predicts simultaneous emission arrival times for both jets, and suggests observational strategies to test jet symmetry and identify deviations.

Findings

Emission from both jets arrives simultaneously at the observer at a given frequency.

The model can be tested using high Fourier frequency coherence measurements.

Echo mapping can reveal deviations from the standard jet model.

Abstract

We show that the standard Blandford-K\"onigl model for compact conical relativistic jets has a peculiar feature: at a given observed frequency of radiation, the emission from the approaching jet arrives at the location of a distant observer at the same time as the emission from the counterjet for all finite inclination angles. We show that this result can be used to determine whether jets are genuinely symmetric, if the cross-coherence between radio and X-ray time series can be measured at high Fourier frequency for a sample of neutron star X-ray binaries with a range of inclination angles. We also discuss echo mapping techniques that can be used to look for deviations from the standard model in high cadence time series data on X-ray binary jets, and conclude that these can plausibly be applied to some systems.