Insights into jet-NLR energetics in PMN J0948+0022

TL;DR

This paper investigates how relativistic jets in the galaxy PMN J0948+0022 interact with the narrow-line region, showing that jet energy can influence circumnuclear gas dynamics and cause optical spectral variability.

Contribution

It provides order-of-magnitude calculations demonstrating jet-NLR energy transfer and supports the jet feedback mechanism in gamma-ray-emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies.

Findings

Jet outflows can absorb and convert jet energy into kinetic energy.

Jet feedback influences circumnuclear gas dynamics.

Optical spectral variability is linked to jet-NLR interactions.

Abstract

The analysis of the optical spectra of PMN J0948+0022 showed significant variations in the spectral lines that, when combined with the Fermi $\gamma$-ray light curve and radio observations reported by other authors, were interpreted as the result of interactions between the relativistic jet and the narrow-line region (NLR). In this work, we present order-of-magnitude calculations of the energetics associated with this proposed jet-NLR interaction. We demonstrate that the observed outflows are capable of absorbing a fraction of the jet energy and converting it into kinetic energy. This mechanism provides a natural explanation for the optical spectral variability recorded with the X-shooter and Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instruments. Our results support the scenario in which feedback from the relativistic jet can dynamically influence the circumnuclear gas, offering new insights into the coupling between jets and the NLR in $\gamma$-ray-emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies.