Opacity Buildup in Impulsive Relativistic Sources

Opacity Build-up in Impulsive Relativistic Sources

Opacity effects in relativistic sources of high-energy gamma-rays, such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) or Blazars, can probe the Lorentz factor of the outflow as well as the distance of the emission site from the source, and thus help constrain the composition of the outflow (protons, pairs, magnetic field) and the emission mechanism. Most previous works consider the opacity in steady state. Here w...

Impulsive Acceleration of Strongly Magnetized Relativistic Flows

The strong variability of magnetic central engines of AGN and GRBs may result in highly intermittent strongly magnetized relativistic outflows. We find a new magnetic acceleration mechanism for such impulsive flows that can be much more effective than the acceleration of steady-state flows. This impulsive acceleration results in kineticenergy-dominated flows that are conducive to efficient diss...

Gravitational radiation from relativistic sources

Sources of Relativistic Jets in the Galaxy

Black holes of stellar mass and neutron stars in binary systems are first detected as hard X-ray sources using high-energy space telescopes. Relativistic jets in some of these compact sources are found by means of multiwavelength observations with ground-based telescopes. The X-ray emission probes the inner accretion disk and immediate surroundings of the compact object, whereas the synchrotron...

Radiative Hydromagnetic Shocks in Relativistic Outflow Sources

We calculate the structure of a relativistic shock wave in which the internal energy of the shocked fluid is radiated away on a time scale much shorter than the characteristic shock propagation time. The shock is assumed to move through a uniformly magnetized, neutral plasma consisting of protons, electrons, and positrons, and allowance is made for the possible production of electron/positron p...