This paper investigates spheroidal galaxies comprising a self-interacting dark matter halo (SIDM) plus de Vaucouleurs stellar distribution. These are coupled only via their shared gravitational field, which is computed consistently from the density profiles. Assuming conservation of mass, momentum and angular momentum, perturbation analyses reveal the galaxy's response to radial disturbance. The modes depend on fundamental dark matter properties, the stellar mass, and the halo's mass and radius. The coupling of stars and dark matter stabilises some haloes that would be unstable as one-fluid models. However the centrally densest haloes are unstable, causing radial flows of SIDM and stars (sometimes in opposite directions). Depending on the dark microphysics, some highly diffuse haloes are also unstable. Unstable galaxies might shed their outskirts or collapse. Observed elliptical galaxies appear to exist in the safe domain. Halo pulsations are possible. The innermost node of SIDM waves may occur within ten half-light radii. Induced stellar ripples may also occur at detectable radii if higher overtones are excited. If any SIDM exists, observational skotoseismology of galaxies could probe DM physics, measure the sizes of specific systems, and perhaps help explain peculiar objects (e.g. some shell galaxies, and the growth of red nuggets).
We studied the X-ray timing and spectral variability of the X-ray source Sw J1644+57, a candidate for a tidal disruption event. We have separated the long-term trend (an initial decline followed by a plateau) from the short-term dips in the Swift light-curve. Power spectra and Lomb-Scargle periodograms hint at possible periodic modulation. By using structure function analysis, we have shown that the dips were not random but occurred preferentially at time intervals ≈(2.3, 4.5, 9)×105 s and their higher-order multiples. After the plateau epoch, dipping resumed at ≈[0.7, 1.4]×106s and their multiples. We have also found that the X-ray spectrum became much softer during each of the early dip, while the spectrum outside the dips became mildly harder in its long-term evolution. We propose that the jet in the system undergoes precession and nutation, which causes the collimated core of the jet briefly to go out of our line of sight. The combined effects of precession and nutation provide a natural explanation for the peculiar patterns of the dips. We interpret the slow hardening of the baseline flux as a transition from an extended, optically thin emission region to a compact, more opaque emission core at the base of the jet.
We investigated the time-dependent radiative and dynamical properties of light supersonic jets launched into an external medium, using hydrodynamic simulations and numerical radiative transfer calculations. These involved various structural models for the ambient media, with density profiles appropriate for galactic and extragalactic systems. The radiative transfer formulation took full account of emission, absorption, re-emission, Faraday rotation and Faraday conversion explicitly. High time-resolution intensity maps were generated, frame-by-frame, to track the spatial hydrodynamical and radiative properties of the evolving jets. Intensity light curves were computed via integrating spatially over the emission maps. We apply the models to jets in active galactic nuclei (AGN). From the jet simulations and the time-dependent emission calculations we derived empirical relations for the emission intensity and size for jets at various evolutionary stages. The temporal properties of jet emission are not solely consequences of intrinsic variations in the hydrodynamics and thermal properties of the jet. They also depend on the interaction between the jet and the ambient medium. The interpretation of radio jet morphology therefore needs to take account of environmental factors. Our calculations have also shown that the environmental interactions can affect specific emitting features, such as internal shocks and hotspots. Quantification of the temporal evolution and spatial distribution of these bright features, together with the derived relations between jet size and emission, would enable us to set constraints on the hydrodynamics of AGN and the structure of the ambient medium.
The kinematics of stars and planetary nebulae in early type galaxies provide vital clues to the enigmatic physics of their dark matter halos. We fit published data for fourteen such galaxies using a spherical, self-gravitating model with two components: (1) a Sersic stellar profile fixed according to photometric parameters, and (2) a polytropic dark matter halo that conforms consistently to the shared gravitational potential. The polytropic equation of state can describe extended theories of dark matter involving self-interaction, non-extensive thermostatistics, or boson condensation (in a classical limit). In such models, the flat-cored mass profiles widely observed in disc galaxies are due to innate dark physics, regardless of any baryonic agitation. One of the natural parameters of this scenario is the number of effective thermal degrees of freedom of dark matter (Fd) which is proportional to the dark heat capacity. By default we assume a cosmic ratio of baryonic and dark mass. Non-Sersic kinematic ideosyncrasies and possible non-sphericity thwart fitting in some cases. In all fourteen galaxies the fit with a polytropic dark halo improves or at least gives similar fits to the velocity dispersion profile, compared to a stars-only model. The good halo fits usually prefer Fd values from six to eight. This range complements the recently inferred limit of 7<Fd<10 (Saxton & Wu), derived from constraints on galaxy cluster core radii and black hole masses. However a degeneracy remains: radial orbital anisotropy or a depleted dark mass fraction could shift our models' preference towards lower Fd; whereas a loss of baryons would favour higher Fd.
We analyse the radial structure of self-gravitating spheres consisting of multiple interpenetrating fluids, such as the X-ray emitting gas and the dark halo of a galaxy cluster. In these dipolytropic models, the adiabatic dark matter sits in equilibrium, while the gas develops a gradual, smooth, quasi-stationary cooling flow. Both affect and respond to the collective gravitational field. We find that all subsonic, radially continuous, steady solutions require a non-zero minimum central point mass. For megaparsec-sized halos with seven to ten effective degrees of freedom (F2), the minimum central mass is compatible with observations of supermassive black holes. Smaller gas mass influxes enable smaller central masses for wider ranges of F2. The halo comprises a sharp spike around the central mass, embedded within a core of nearly constant density (at 101–102.5 kpc scales), with outskirts that attenuate and naturally truncate at finite radius (several Mpc). The gas density resembles a broken power law in radius, but the temperature dips and peaks within the dark core. A finite minimum temperature occurs due to gravitational self-warming, without cold mass dropout nor needing regulatory heating. X-ray emission from the intracluster medium mimics a β-model plus bright compact nucleus. Near-sonic points in the gas flow are bottlenecks to the allowed steady solutions; the outermost are at kpc scales. These sites may preferentially develop cold mass dropout during strong perturbations off equilibrium. Within the sonic point, the profile of gas specific entropy is flatter than s&propr1/2, but this is a shallow ramp and not an isentropic core. When F2 is large, the inner halo spike is only marginally Jeans stable in the central parsec, suggesting that a large non-linear disturbance could trigger local dark collapse onto the central object.
The temperatures of electrons and ions in the post-shock accretion region of a magnetic cataclysmic variable (mCV) will be equal at sufficiently high mass flow rates or for sufficiently weak magnetic fields. At lower mass flow rates or in stronger magnetic fields, efficient cyclotron cooling will cool the electrons faster than the electrons can cool the ions and a two-temperature flow will result. Here we investigate the differences in polarized radiation expected from mCV post-shock accretion columns modeled with one- and two-temperature hydrodynamics. In an mCV model with one accretion region, a magnetic field >~30 MG and a specific mass flow rate of ~0.5 g/cm/cm/s, along with a relatively generic geometric orientation of the system, we find that in the ultraviolet either a single linear polarization pulse per binary orbit or two pulses per binary orbit can be expected, depending on the accretion column hydrodynamic structure (one- or two-temperature) modeled. Under conditions where the physical flow is two-temperature, one pulse per orbit is predicted from a single accretion region where a one-temperature model predicts two pulses. The intensity light curves show similar pulse behavior but there is very little difference between the circular polarization predictions of one- and two-temperature models. Such discrepancies indicate that it is important to model some aspect of two-temperature flow in indirect imaging procedures, like Stokes imaging, especially at the edges of extended accretion regions, where the specific mass flow is low, and especially for ultraviolet data
Unipolar induction (UI) is a fundamental physical process, which occurs when a conducting body transverses a magnetic field. It has been suggested that UI is operating in RX J0806+15 and RX J1914+24, which are believed to be ultracompact binaries with orbital periods of 5.4 and 9.6 min, respectively. The UI model predicts that those two sources may be electron cyclotron maser sources at radio wavelengths. Other systems in which UI has been predicted to occur are short period extrasolar terrestrial planets with conducting cores. If UI is present, circularly polarized radio emission is predicted to be emitted. We have searched for this predicted radio emission from short period binaries using the Very Large Array (VLA) and Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). In one epoch, we find evidence for a radio source, coincident in position with the optical position of RX J0806+15. Although we cannot completely exclude that this is a chance alignment between the position of RX J0806+15 and an artefact in the data reduction process, the fact that it was detected at a significance level of 5.8σ and found to be transient suggests that it is more likely that RX J0806+15 is a transient radio source. We find an upper limit on the degree of circular polarization to be ~50%. The inferred brightness temperature exceeds 1E18K, which is too high for any known incoherent process, but is consistent with maser emission and UI being the driving mechanism. We did not detect radio emission from ES Cet, RX J1914+24 or Gliese 876.
We investigate the hydrodynamics of accretion channelled by a dipolar magnetic field (funnel flows). We consider situations in which the electrons and ions in the flow cannot maintain thermal equilibrium (two-temperature effects) due to strong radiative loss, and determine the effects on the keV X-ray properties of the systems. We apply this model to investigate the accretion shocks of white dwarfs in magnetic cataclysmic variables. We have found that the incorporation of two-temperature effects could harden the keV X-rays. Also, the dipolar model yields harder X-ray spectra than the standard planar model if white dwarf is sufficiently massive (≥1Msun). When fitting observed keV X-ray spectra of magnetic cataclysmic variables, the inclusion of two-temperature hydrodynamics and a dipolar accretion geometry lowers estimates for white-dwarf masses when compared with masses inferred from models excluding these effects. We find mass reductions ≤9% in the most massive cases.
Field-channelled accretion flows occur in a variety of astrophysical objects, including T Tauri stars, magnetic cataclysmic variables and X-ray pulsars. We consider a curvilinear coordinate system and derive a general hydrodynamic formulation for accretion onto stellar objects confined by a stellar dipole magnetic field. The hydrodynamic equations are solved to determine the velocity, density and temperature profiles of the flow. We use accreting magnetic white-dwarf stars as an illustrative example of astrophysical applications. Our calculations show that the compressional heating due to the field geometry is as important as radiative cooling and gravity in determining the structure of the post-shock flow in accreting white-dwarf stars. The generalisation of the formulation to accretion flows channelled by higher-order fields and the applications to other astrophysical systems are discussed.
We use a two-temperature hydrodynamical formulation to determine the temperature and density structures of the post-shock accretion flows in magnetic cataclysmic variables (mCVs) and calculate the corresponding X-ray spectra. The effects of two-temperature flows are significant for systems with a massive white dwarf and a strong white-dwarf magnetic field . Our calculations show that two-temperature flows predict harder keV spectra than one-temperature flows for the same white-dwarf mass and magnetic field. This result is insensitive to whether the electrons and ions have equal temperature at the shock but depends on the electron-ion exchange rate, relative to the rate of radiative loss along the flow. White-dwarf masses obtained by fitting the X-ray spectra of mCVs using hydrodynamic models including the two-temperature effects will be lower than those obtained using single-temperature models. The bias is more severe for systems with a massive white dwarf.
We present two-dimensional slab-jet simulations of jets in inhomogeneous media consisting of a tenuous hot medium populated with a small filling factor by warm, dense clouds. The simulations are relevant to the structure and dynamics of sources such as Gigahertz Peak Spectrum and Compact Steep Spectrum radio galaxies, High Redshift Radio Galaxies and radio galaxies in cooling flows. The jets are disrupted to a degree depending upon the filling factor of the clouds. With a small filling factor, the jet retains some forward momentum but also forms a halo or bubble around the source. At larger filling factors channels are formed in the cloud distribution through which the jet plasma flows and a hierarchical structure consisting of nested lobes and an outer enclosing bubble results. We suggest that the CSS quasar 3C48 is an example of a low filling factor jet — interstellar medium interaction whilst M87 may be an example of the higher filling factor type of interaction. Jet disruption occurs primarily as a result of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities driven by turbulence in the radio cocoon not through direct jet-cloud interactions, although there are some examples of these. In all radio galaxies whose morphology may be the result of jet interactions with an inhomogeneous interstellar medium we expect that the dense clouds will be optically observable as a result of radiative shocks driven by the pressure of the radio cocoon. We also expect that the radio galaxies will possess faint haloes of radio emitting material well beyond the observable jet structure.
The combined synchrotron and inverse Compton emission from jets provide us with essential information on the properties of jets within 100–1000 gravitational radii from the black hole. In some jets the inferred magnetic field is below equipartition and in MKN 501 and MKN 421, recent models imply Doppler factors of approximately 50. Both of these features confront jet-launching models with substantial challenges. In MKN 421 and MKN 501 these jets must decelerate before they reach the parsec scale and this is in fact physically consistent with conservation of energy and momentum in this region. The correlation between the peak Lorentz factor and the inverse of the magnetic plus photon energy density is most directly explained if the shocks in blazar jets are produced by intrinsic jet instabilities rather than variations in the output of the black hole. Recent analysis of a restarting radio jet galaxy provide additional evidence for hyper-relativistic jets.
The standard model of the post-shock accretion flow in mCVs is discussed. We present some results of the current study of two-temperature flow in mCVs. New observations supporting the standard model are discussed. Recent development of the studies of the global properties of the accretion stream is briefly discussed.
We review theoretical ideas that seem to be currently important for the physics of GPS and CSS radio sources. These include models for their evolution, the production of emission lines, and the origin of the low frequency turnover. We also describe the initial phases of a program of simulations that is aimed at understanding the radiative interactions between jets, lobes, and dense clouds in the nuclei of these objects.
We review our recent work on the interaction of jets with the interstellar medium of both classical double and young radio galaxies. We propose explanations for the intriguing radio morphology of Hercules A and Pictor A in terms of the complex structure produced near the terminal shock in the jet. This also has ramifications for the interpretation of the high energy emission from Pictor A. Gigahertz Peak Spectrum (GPS) and Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS) sources are now believed to be young radio galaxies in which the jets are interacting with an inhomogeneous interstellar medium. Two dimensional slab-jet simulations of jets interacting with a clumpy interstellar medium show the way in which radiative shocks are driven into the clouds and how the jet is disrupted. There are interesting morphological comparisons between one of our simulations and the GPS source 4C31.05 and the large scale structure of M87. Another simulation with a lower filling factor, resembles the CSS quasar 3C48.
The radio lobes of the radio galaxy Hercules A contain intriguing ring-like structures concentric with the jet axis. To investigate the occurrence of such features, we have used hydrodynamic simulations of jets with a range of Mach numbers (from M=2 to 50) and densities (down to a ratio of 10-4 relative to the background) to generate ray-traced images simulating synchrotron emission from the time-dependent shock structures. We compare these images with observations of Hercules A, and consider the physical nature and temporal evolution of the most plausible configurations. We find that the observed ring-like structures are well explained as nearly annular shocks propagating in the backflow surrounding the jet. We infer that the jet is oriented at between 30° and 70° to the line of sight, consistent with radio depolarization observations of Gizani & Leahy. The observational lack of hot-spots at the extremities of the radio lobes, and the possible presence of a buried hot-spot near the base of the western lobe, are explained in terms of the intrinsic brightness fluctuations and dynamics of the terminal shock of an ultra-light, low Mach number jet that surges along its axis due to intermittent pinching and obstruction by turbulent backflow in the cocoon. We conclude from the appearance of both sides of the Hercules A, that both jets are on the verge of becoming fully turbulent.
We have carried out simulations of supersonic light jets in order to model the features observed in optical and radio images of the western hot-spot in the radio galaxy Pictor A. We have considered jets with density ratios η=10-2 - 10-4, and Mach numbers ranging between 5 and 50. From each simulation, we have generated ray-traced maps of radio surface brightness at a variety of jet inclinations, in order to study the appearance of time-dependent luminous structures in the vicinity of the western hot-spot. We compare these rendered images with observed features of Pictor A. A remarkable feature of Pictor A observations is a bar-shaped "filament" inclined almost at right angles to the inferred jet direction and extending 24" (10.8 h-1 kpc) along its longest axis. The constraints of reproducing the appearance of this structure in simulations indicate that the jet of Pictor A lies nearly in the plane of the sky. The results of the simulation are also consistent with other features found in the radio image of Pictor A. This filament arises from the surging behaviour of the jet near the hot-spot; the surging is provoked by alternate compression and decompression of the jet by the turbulent backflow in the cocoon. We also examine the arguments for the jet in Pictor A being at a more acute angle to the line of sight and find that our preferred orientation is just consistent with the limits on the brightness ratio of the X-ray jet and counter-jet. We determine from our simulations, the structure function of hot-spot brightness and also the cumulative distribution of the ratio of intrinsic hot-spot brightnesses. The latter may be used to quantify the use of hot-spot ratios for the estimation of relativistic effects.
Thermal instabilities can cause a radiative shock to oscillate, thereby modulating the emission from the post-shock region. The mode frequencies are approximately quantised in analogy to those of a vibrating pipe. The stability properties depend on the cooling processes, the electron-ion energy exchange and the boundary conditions. This paper considers the effects of the lower boundary condition on the post-shock flow, both ideally and for some specific physical models. Specific cases include constant perturbed velocity, pressure, density, flow rate, or temperature at the lower boundary, and the situation with nonzero stationary flow velocity at the lower boundary. It is found that for cases with zero terminal stationary velocity, the stability properties are insensitive to the perturbed hydrodynamic variables at the lower boundary. The luminosity responses are generally dependent on the lower boundary condition.
We model the northern middle radio lobe of Centaurus A (NGC 5128) as a buoyant bubble of plasma deposited by an intermittently active jet. The extent of the rise of the bubble and its morphology imply that the ratio of its density to that of the surrounding ISM is less than 10-2, consistent with our knowledge of extragalactic jets and minimal entrainment into the precursor radio lobe. Using the morphology of the lob to date the beginning of its rise through the atmosphere of Centaurus A, we conclude that the bubble has been rising for approximately 140 Myr. This time scale is consistent with that proposed by Quillen and coworkers for the settling of post-merger gas into the presently observed large scale disk in NGC 5128, suggesting a strong connection between the delayed re-establishment of radio emission and the merger of NGC 5128 with a small gas-rich galaxy. This suggests a connection, for radio galaxies in general, between mergers and the delayed onset of radio emission. In our model, the elongated X-ray emission region discovered by Feigelson and coworkers, part of which coincides with the northern middle lobe, is thermal gas that originates from the ISM below the bubble and that has been uplifted and compressed. The “large-scale jet” appearing in the radio images of Morganti and coworkers may be the result of the same pressure gradients that cause the uplift of the thermal gas, acting on much lighter plasma, or may represent a jet that did not turn off completely when the northern middle lobe started to buoyantly rise. We propose that the adjacent emission line knots (the “outer filaments”) and star-forming regions result from the disturbance, in particular the thermal trunk, caused by the bubble moving through the extended atmosphere of NGC 5128.
We present a general formulation for stability analyses of radiative shocks with multiple cooling processes, longitudinal and transverse perturbations, and unequal electron and ion temperatures. Using the accretion shocks of magnetic cataclysmic variables as an illustrative application, we investigate the shock instabilities by examining the eigenfunctions of the perturbed hydrodynamic variables. We also investigate the effects of varying the condition at the lower boundary of the post-shock flow from a zero-velocity fixed wall to several alternative type of boundaries involving the perturbed hydrodynamic variables, and the variations of the emission from the post-shock flow under different modes of oscillations. We found that the stability properties for flow with a stationary-wall lower boundary are not significantly affected by perturbing the lower boundary condition, and they are determined mainly by the energy-transport processes. Moreover, there is no obvious correlation between the amplitude or phase of the luminosity response and the stability properties of the system. Stability of the system can, however, be modified in the presence of transverse perturbation. The luminosity responses are also altered by transverse perturbation.
The structure of the hot downstream region below a radiative accretion shock, such as that of an accreting compact object, may oscillate due to a global thermal instability. The oscillatory behaviour depends on the functional forms of the cooling processes, the energy exchanges of electrons and ions in the shock-heated matter, and the boundary conditions. We analyse the stability of a shock with unequal electron and ion temperatures, where the cooling consists of thermal bremsstrahlung radiation which promotes instability, plus a competing process which tends to stabilize the shock. The effect of transverse perturbations is considered also. As an illustration, we study the special case in which the stabilizing cooling process is of order 3/20 in density and 5/2 in temperature, which is an approximation for the effects of cyclotron cooling in magnetic cataclysmic variables. We vary the efficiency of the second cooling process, the strength of the electron-ion exchange and the ratio of electron and ion pressures at the shock, to examine particular effects on the stability properties and frequencies of oscillation modes.
The stand-off shock formed in the accretion flow onto a stationary wall, such as the surface of a white dwarf, may be thermally unstable depending on the cooling processes which dominate the post-shock flow. Some processes lead to instability while others tend to stabilise the shock. We consider competition between the destabilising influence of thermal bremsstrahlung cooling, and a stabilising process which is a power-law in density and temperature. Cyclotron cooling, and processes which are of order 1, 3/2 and 2 in density are considered. The relative efficiency and power-law indices of the second mechanism are varied, and particular effects on the stability properties and frequencies of oscillation modes are examined.
Stability of accretion onto magnetic white dwarfs is investigated via perturbation analysis. We consider a cooling function with composite power-laws, and the power-law indices are appropriate for bremsstrahlung and optically thick cylcotron cooling. We have found that the prsence of cyclotron cooling generally suppresses the instability, consistent with numerical simulations by other investigators.
This thesis presents and applies a formulation for perturbative stability analyses of radiative shocks with multiple cooling processes, longitudinal and transverse perturbations, and unequal electron and ion temperatures. The stand-off accretion shock above a stationary wall (e.g. white dwarf surface) may experience global thermal instability, depending on the functional forms of radiative cooling processes present. This analysis assumes a composite cooling function that explicitly sums bremsstrahlung cooling (which promotes instability), with a stabilizing cooling process which is a power-law in density and temperature. One illustrative case approximates the effects of cyclotron cooling in magnetic cataclysmic variables (mCVs), some of which exhibit ~1Hz optical quasi-periodic oscillations.Complex eigenfrequencies describe stability properties and frequencies of oscillatory modes. Details of the corresponding eigenfunctions portray local physics of the shock instabilities. Oscillations of post-shock structure modulate the X-ray and optical emissions. Profiles and integrated luminosity responses are calculated for modes of mCV accretion shocks, and the relative amplitudes and phasings are considered.
Oscillatory properties depend on efficiency of the secondary cooling process (&epsilons), and other parameters. Stability differs for each mode, and is functionally more complicated than timescale comparisons. Instability of a mode n does not imply the instability of mode n+1. For one-temperature shocks, increasing &epsilons stabilizes each mode monotonically. Higher-order temperature dependence tends to reduce instability. Cyclotron cooling generally suppresses instabilities, which is consistent with numerical simulations by other investigators. In two-temperature shocks the inefficient e-i energy exchange influences the oscillations, e.g. destabilizing the shock when cyclotron cooling is very efficient, (causing stability to be non-monotonic in &epsilons).
Frequencies are approximately quantised. In many conditions the modes resemble those of a pipe open at one end; at two-temperature extremes they resemble a doubly-open pipe. The influence of the lower boundary condition is investigated further by calculating eigenfrequencies and eigenfunctions subject to alternatives to the fixed-wall condition.