Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Sciences

First Advisor

Eric Perlman

Second Advisor

Roberto Peverati

Third Advisor

Jean Carlos Perez

Fourth Advisor

Donald Warren

Abstract

We present a multiwavelength study of three high-power FR II (quasar) jets -- 3C 273, PKS 0637-752, and 1150+497 -- with an emphasis on new high-quality Hubble Space Telescope (HST) optical polarimetry and Chandra X-ray Observatory imaging. Relativistic jets from active galactic nuclei transport energy and mass from the supermassive black hole’s accretion region out to Megaparsec-scale lobes, with effects that feedback into galaxy formation and cluster energetics. We build on recent work which has called into question our fundamental understanding of FR II jet physics, and suggest that highly-efficient particle acceleration must be taking place in situ within regions of these large-scale jets, many kiloparsecs away from the central engine. Multiple independent methods of probing the emission of these jets suggest a synchrotron origin for the observed X-ray flux in many cases. We detect significant optical linear polarization in all bright jet knots in our sample, which coincides with the synchrotron prediction. Three of the polarized knots in the 3C 273 are shown to exhibit a second spectral component of the SED which connects the polarized optical flux to the X-ray flux, lending strong evidence for efficient particle acceleration in these regions resulting in a synchrotron origin for the observed X-rays. All three jets show morphology that is consistent with a spine-sheath structure.

Comments

Copyright is held by author.

Download

Share

COinS