Impact of the CMB on the evolution of AGNs and their relativisitc jets at the highest redshift

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the Cosmic Microwave Background influences the evolution of high-redshift Active Galactic Nuclei and their relativistic jets, focusing on the high-energy emission mechanisms and their environmental impact.

Contribution

It explores the role of IC/CMB interactions in explaining X-ray emissions from large-scale jets and assesses their effect on SMBH evolution at high redshift.

Findings

IC/CMB can account for X-ray emissions in kpc-scale jets.

High-redshift SMBHs may evolve differently due to jet-CMB interactions.

Relativistic jets significantly impact their environment across cosmic time.

Abstract

Radio-Loud (RL) Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are among the brightest astrophysical sources at all wavelengths. Their relativistic jets can affect both their Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) growth and the surrounding intergalactic medium. While in the radio band these jets can be observed at all scales (from pc to Mpc scales), their X-ray and {\gamma}-ray emission is expected to be concentrated on very small scales (<10 pc). However, after the launch of the Chandra X-ray telescope, several kpc-scale jets were detected and the mechanism responsible for their high-energy radiation at these scales is still under debate. Understanding its origin is crucial also to derive the physical properties of these jets (e.g. the power) at large scales and, as a consequence, their impact on the environment. In the following, we explore the Inverse Compton interaction of the relativistic electrons within relativistic jets with the Cosmic Microwave background photons (IC/CMB) as possible interpretation. Moreover, we also estimate how this interpretation could also affect the observed evolution across cosmic times of the SMBHs hosted in jetted systems.