COLLIMATION AND RADIATIVE DECELERATION OF JETS IN TEV AGNs

摘要

We consider some implications of the rapid X-ray and TeV variability observed in M87 and the TeV blazars. We outline a model for jet focusing and demonstrate that modest radiative cooling can lead to recollimation of a relativistic jet in a nozzle having a very small cross-sectional radius. Such a configuration can produce rapid variability at large distances from the central engine and may explain recent observations of the HST-1 knot in M87. Possible applications of this model to TeV blazars are discussed. We also discuss a scenario for the very rapid TeV flares observed with H.E.S.S. and MAGIC in some blazars, that accommodates the relatively small Doppler factors inferred from radio observations.