Adapted from Orienti 2016, AN, 337, 9
Active or relics? The life-cycle of relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei
Relativistic jets are one of the most powerful manifestation of the energy released by Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Detections of remnants within the population of young radio galaxies suggest that the injection of relativistic plasma may occur over very brief periods, possibly lasting only a few thousand years. The reason for these short lifecycles is still unknown. The primary objective of this project is to conduct the first comprehensive study of the incidence of remnants within a complete sample of young radio sources. Dual-frequency radio data were acquired to discriminate between active and remnant sources by analyzing their radio structure and spectral index distribution. The forthcoming results will be compared against existing theoretical models of radio source evolution. This study will provide a step forward in our understanding of the lifecycle of relativistic jets in AGN.
Planned activities:
The goal of the project is the analysis of dual-frequency VLBA radio data of 9 sources from the complete sample still lacking a clear characterization of their nature. This will allow us to determine the incidence of relic sources in whole sample. The percentage will be compared with the expectation from different models of short-lived radio sources.
Start: 2022
Duration: 3 years
Financing program: Ricerca fondamentale INAF
Referent: Monica Orienti
Collaborators: Filippo D’Ammando, Carlo Stanghellini, Karl-Heinz Mack, Paola Rossi, Gianluigi Bodo, Kathleen Charlton