Speaker
Description
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are compact regions in the centre of galaxies exhibiting higher than normal luminosity. Radio loud AGN produce relativistic jets which exhibit variability over various time-scales. This has been attributed to the formation of blob/shock structures propagating along the jet. Using relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (RMHD) simulations we investigate how blob injection can result in variable light curves. Three-dimensional RMHD jets were simulated using PLUTO, an astrophysical fluid simulation software, and allowed to develop in time forming multiple re-collimation shocks. A quasi-spherical blob was then injected and allowed to propagate along the jet, interacting with the shocks. A post-processing code was used to find the integrated specific intensity of the synchrotron emission in the radio regime, accounting for relativistic effects such as Doppler boosting and light-crossing time correction. Light curves for various viewing angles were calculated to investigate how the emission generated from a single blob differed from a radio galaxy to a blazar-like AGN.
