Kink Instabilities, Turbulence and Particle Acceleration in Astrophysical Jets

Astrophysical jets driven by black holes are thought to undergo kink instabilities due to the large current carried by such jets. Dissipation of magnetic energy through kink instabilities has been suggested to account for the high-energy radiation (often in flaring fashion) up to many TeVs. In recent years, galactic microquasars (such as SS 433) have generated a lot of interests, given its high-energy gamma-ray radiation (up to 100s TeV, potentially to PeV) from their jets/lobes. Furthermore, in the case of SS433, polarized X-ray emissions with spatially (quasi-)resolved polarization angle and degree were reported by IXPE. The high degree of polarization implies large-scale (~ several parsecs) coherent magnetic fields. In this talk, we will present 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) studies of kink instabilities in jets and how they produce the polarization properties of jets.  The properties of kink-driven turbulence will be described and compare with the properties of Alfvenic turbulence. Particle acceleration in kink-driven turbulence will be presented as well. We will end with discussing possible implications for astrophysical jets and lobes. 

Date

Speakers

Hui Li

Affiliation

Los Alamos National Laboratory