TurnerEA18_Raise2.pdf (2.68 MB)
RAiSE II: resolved spectral evolution in radio AGN
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 15:03 authored by Ross TurnerRoss Turner, Rogers, J, Stanislav ShabalaStanislav Shabala, Krause, MGHThe active galactic nuclei (AGN) lobe radio luminosities modelled in hydrodynamical simulations and most analytical models do not address the redistribution of the electron energies due to adiabatic expansion, synchrotron radiation and inverse-Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons. We present a synchrotron emissivity model for resolved sources that includes a full treatment of the loss mechanisms spatially across the lobe, and apply it to a dynamical radio source model with known pressure and volume expansion rates. The bulk flow and dispersion of discrete electron packets is represented by tracer fields in hydrodynamical simulations; we show that the mixing of different aged electrons strongly affects the spectrum at each point of the radio map in high-powered Fanaroff & Riley type II (FR-II) sources. The inclusion of this mixing leads to a factor of a few discrepancy between the spectral age measured using impulsive injection models (e.g. JP model) and the dynamical age. The observable properties of radio sources are predicted to be strongly frequency dependent: FR-II lobes are expected to appear more elongated at higher frequencies, while jetted FR-I sources appear less extended. The emerging FR0 class of radio sources, comprising gigahertz peaked and compact steep spectrum sources, can potentially be explained by a population of low-powered FR-Is. The extended emission from such sources is shown to be undetectable for objects within a few orders of magnitude of the survey detection limit and to not contribute to the curvature of the radio spectral energy distribution.
Funding
Australian Research Council
History
Publication title
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyVolume
473Pagination
4179-4196ISSN
0035-8711Department/School
School of Natural SciencesPublisher
Blackwell Publishing LtdPlace of publication
9600 Garsington Rd, Oxford, England, Oxon, Ox4 2DgRights statement
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2017 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.Repository Status
- Open