September 5, 2007
3 pm in Howey Physics Lecture Room 5

 

Paul Wiita, Professor

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University

 

"Radio Galaxies, Quasars and Relativistic Jets"

After a review of the basic properties of radio galaxies, quasars and blazars I will summarize the now well accepted unified model which ties together these classes of radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN).  This model depends upon the presence of a supermassive black hole, now known to be present in the cores of most galaxies and sufficient infall of gas onto that black hole to produce tremendous energies in small volumes.  The type of AGN we observe depends to a large extent on our viewing angle to the axis of symmetry of the central engine.  I will then focus on the difficulties the standard model has in explaining important properties of the special class of TeV blazars and propose solutions to them in terms of ultrarelativistic jets of finite opening angles.