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The physics of E × B-drifting jets

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Abstract

E × B-drifting jets have been generally ignored for the past 25 years even though they may well describe all the astrophysical jet sources, both on galactic and stellar scales. Here we present closed-form solutions for their joint field-and-particle distribution, argue that the observed jets are near equipartition, with extremely relativistic, monoenergetic e±-pairs of bulk Lorentz factor γ ≲ 104, and are first-order stable. We describe plausible mechanisms for the jets’ (i) formation, (ii) propagation, and (iii) termination. Wherever a beam meets with resistance, its frozen-in Poynting flux transforms the delta-shaped energy distribution of the pairs into an almost white power law,E 2 N E ∼E −∫ with ∫ ≳ 0, via single-step falls through the huge convected potential.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IfA of Bonn University, Auf dem Huegel 71, D-53121, Bonn

    Wolfgang Kundt

  2. National Centre for Radio Astrophysics/TIFR, Pune University Campus, 411 007, Pune

    Gopal Krishna

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  1. Wolfgang Kundt
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  2. Gopal Krishna
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Kundt, W., Krishna, G. The physics of E × B-drifting jets. J Astrophys Astron 25, 115–127 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02702368

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