The Triggering of Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei

by Dr Preeti Kharb (Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore)

Monday 28 Apr 2014, 16:00 → 17:00 Asia/Kolkata

Lecture Theatre (AG-66) (Colaba Campus)

Large bipolar jets of relativistic plasma have popularly been identified as one of the defining characteristics of active galactic nuclei (AGN). The majority of AGN however, do not exhibit kiloparsec-scale radio jets. There is ongoing debate in the literature on whether a dichotomy exists between these so-called "radio-quiet" AGN and the ones with jets spanning intergalactic scales (a.k.a. "radio-loud" AGN), the radio-loudness parameter being a relative measure of the radio power versus the optical power of the AGN. We will look critically at the current status of the debate, and discuss the probable causes of such a dichotomy, if one exists. Our own multi-wavelength (i.e., radio, optical, X-ray) work on bright "radio-quiet" and faint "radio-loud" AGN, which are straddling the "radio-loud"-"radio-quiet" divide, will be discussed in this context.