dc.contributor.author |
Subramanian, P |
|
dc.contributor.author |
Shukla, A |
|
dc.contributor.author |
Becker, P. A |
|
dc.date.accessioned |
2012-05-23T10:09:23Z |
|
dc.date.available |
2012-05-23T10:09:23Z |
|
dc.date.issued |
2012-06 |
|
dc.identifier.citation |
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 423, No. 2, pp. 1707-1710 |
en |
dc.identifier.issn |
1365-2966 |
|
dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/2248/5773 |
|
dc.description |
Restricted Access |
en |
dc.description.abstract |
Recently observed minute-time-scale variability of blazar emission at TeV energies has imposed severe constraints on jet models and TeV emission mechanisms. We focus on a robust jet instability to explain this variability. As a consequence of the bulk outflow of the jet plasma, the pressure is likely to be anisotropic, with the parallel pressure P|| in the forward jet direction exceeding the perpendicular pressure P⊥. Under these circumstances, the jet is susceptible to the firehose instability, which can cause disruptions in the large-scale jet structure and result in variability of the observed radiation. For a realistic range of parameters, we find that the growth time-scale of the firehose instability is ≈ a few minutes, in good agreement with the observed TeV variability time-scales for Mrk 501 and PKS 2155−304. |
en |
dc.language.iso |
en |
en |
dc.publisher |
Wiley-Blackwell |
en |
dc.relation.uri |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20991.x/full |
en |
dc.rights |
© Royal Astronomical Society |
en |
dc.subject |
Black hole physics |
en |
dc.subject |
Instabilities |
en |
dc.subject |
Plasmas |
en |
dc.subject |
Galaxies: jets |
en |
dc.subject |
Gamma-rays: galaxies |
en |
dc.title |
TeV blazar variability: the firehose instability? |
en |
dc.type |
Article |
en |