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Questions tagged [relativistic-jets]

To be used for astrophysical jets -- collimated, relativistic outflows often due to accretion onto compact objects.

Relativistic jets are found in a number of astrophysical systems, including distant quasars like 3C 273, nearby active galactic nuclei like M87, X-ray binaries like SS 433, and gamma-ray bursts.

The common feature is a highly energetic process launching particles along a rotation axis at relativistic speeds. The acceleration and collimation of jets can be influenced by pressure gradients in the ambient medium and strong electromagnetic fields. Their emission can be seen over a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Relativistic jets not only provide a means of seeing effects of objects otherwise too faint to study, but they are also a natural laboratory for relativistic plasma physics.

56 questions
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How can Quasars emit anything if they're black holes?

We've heard it many times, nothing can escape the gravity of a black hole, even light once it's past the event horizon. If this is true, how can a black hole emit anything? Quasars are massive black holes that have consumed enormous amounts of…
Hunter
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Which way do black hole jets spin?

The centers of black holes and quasars often have jets coming out the two poles of an accretion disk, say north and south. Is it known if the two jets spin in the same direction or opposite directions to each other?
AnimatedPhysics
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Why are polar jets emitted along the axis of rotation?

Why are streams of energy-matter emitted along the axis of rotation of compact objects? (or) what is the reason that they are emitted along the axis of rotation of a compact object?
dan
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What is the proper time used in relativistic non-equilibrium statistical physics?

In the literature one often finds covariant relativistic generalizations of classical non equilibrium statistical equations (Boltzmann, Vlasov, Landau, Fokker-Planck, etc...) but I wonder what is the meaning of the time which is used. As far as I…
Shaktyai
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Where do the bipolar jets of black holes come from?

How are they formed? And why are they so bright?
InquilineKea
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Why are pulsar's radiation beams collimated?

Every picture of a pulsar I see shows a very collimated radiation beam. What is the mechanism generating such a collimation? Note: I am not talking about "relativistic jets". I am talking about radiation, not matter.
Diracology
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Why is there no jet visible in the M87* black hole radio image?

M87 is known to contain a jet that is likely created by the supermassive black hole at its center. The recently published radio image taken by the Event Horizon Telescope does not display any noticeable jet. I can think of a few reasons why, but…
Jens
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Why are the jets of the "light saber" star slightly curved?

Why don't the jets of the HH-24 object follow a straight line? In the image below, notice how they bend towards left from the expected straight line. Is it an optical distortion, or some nearby massive object exerting a gravitational field?
Justas
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Is there comprehensive catalogue of black holes and relativistic jets?

Basically I am looking for a database with RJs and BHs characteristics. In High Energy Physics there is Particle Data Group book which is updated regularly. Is there something similar? Upd.2023-01-17: Related Question Gamma Ray Burst data
Nikolai Zaitsev
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models for astrophysical relativistic jets from compact objects

what is the simplest way to understand the physics of relativistic jets? we know that they have axial symmetry with very tight angular spread, presumably aligned with the axis of rotation of the black hole. It seems to be a mechanism not entirely…
lurscher
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How do we know that Quasars actually produce collimated jets?

How did astrophysicists know this? Of course it's very difficult to directly see the jets from Quasars, so I'm wondering how did they come to the conclusion that Quasars produce collimated jets or beams?
user43783
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Does the event when two BH without polar jets merge, cause a short living polar jet on the newly formed BH?

Does the event when two BH without polar jets merge, cause a short living polar jet on the newly formed BH? As BH need infalling material to activate their polar bursts does the BH falling into another one as it brings the needed material provoke…
Krešimir Bradvica
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Distinguishing between quark and gluon jets

How do experimentalists at the LHC differentiate between jets produced by quarks and those produced by gluons. I know that for b quarks there is a b-tagging method, but what do they do for the others in order to separate them from gluon induced…
JohnDoe122
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Can rotating black hole have toroidal event horizon with penetrating relativistic jet(s)?

It is conjectured that a rotating black hole has at its center a ring-shaped singularity. Thus, at the center of the ring-shaped singularity the gravitational field must be zero (similar to gravitational field at center of dense object), and gravity…
Halfdan Faber
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Pulsar beam radiant intensity distribution

I'm curious about the radiant intensity distribution of pulsars: what's the general dependence of intensity on angle, and what are typical angular beam widths? How much does the beam width vary between pulsars? (Presumably this is tied to magnetic…
Cascabel
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