A numerical model of parsec-scale SSC morphologies and their radio emission

Abstract

In current models for jets of active galactic nuclei and their emission a shortcoming in the description and understanding of the connection between the largest and smallest scales exists. In this work we present a spatially resolved synchrotron self-Compton model extended to parsec scales, which opens the possibility of probing the connections between the radio and high-energy properties. We simulate an environment that leads to Fermi-I acceleration of leptonic particles and includes the full time dependence of this process. Omitting the restriction of a finite downstream region, we find that the spectral energy distribution produced by the accelerated particles strongly depends on their radial confinement behind the shock. The requirement, for both the restriction of high-energy emission to a small region around the shock and the production of a flat radio spectrum, is an initial linear increase of the radius immediately behind the shock, which then slows down with increasing distance from the shock. A good representation of the data for the blazar Mrk 501 is achieved by a parameterized log function. The prediction for the shape of the radio blob is given by the flux distribution with respect to shock distance