We present, for the Ðrst time, the structure of the axisymmetric force-free magnetosphere of an aligned rotating magnetic dipole, in the case in which there exists a sufficiently large charge density (whose origin we do not question) to satisfy the ideal MHD condition, E AE B \ 0, everywhere. The unique distribution of electric current along the open magnetic Ðeld lines that is required for the solution to be continuous and smooth is obtained numerically. With the geometry of the Ðeld lines thus determined, we compute the dynamics of the associated MHD wind. The main result is that the relativistic outÑow contained in the magnetosphere is not accelerated to the extremely relativistic energies required for the Ñow to generate gamma rays. We expect that our solution will be useful as the starting point for detailed studies of pulsar magnetospheres under more general conditions, namely, when the force-free and/or the ideal MHD condition, E AE B \ 0, are not valid in the entire magnetosphere. Based on our solution, we consider that the most likely positions of such an occurrence are the polar cap, the crossings of the zero space charge surface by open Ðeld lines, and the return current boundary, but not the light cylinder.

OJ287 is the best candidate active galactic nucleus (AGN) for hosting a supermassive binary black hole (SMBBH) at very close separation. We present 120 Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations (at 15 GHz) covering the time between April 1995 and April 2017. We find that the OJ287 radio jet is precessing on a time-scale of ∼22 yr. In addition, our data are consistent with a jet-axis rotation on a yearly time-scale. We model the precession (24 ± 2 yr) and combined motion of jet precession and jet-axis rotation. The jet motion explains the variability of the total radio flux-density via viewing angle changes and Doppler beaming. Half of the jet-precession time-scale is of the order of the dominant optical periodicity time-scale. We suggest that the optical emission is synchrotron emission and related to the jet radiation. The jet dynamics and flux-density light curves can be understood in terms of geometrical effects. Disturbances of an accretion disc caused by a plunging BH do not seem necessary to explain the observed variability. Although the SMBBH model does not seem necessary to explain the observed variability, an SMBBH or Lense-Thirring precession (disc around single BH) seem to be required to explain the time-scale of the precessing motion. Besides jet rotation also nutation of the jet axis could explain the observed motion of the jet axis. We find a strikingly similar scaling for the time-scales for precession and nutation as indicated for SS433 with a factor of roughly 50 times longer in OJ287.

We investigate the launching of jets and outflows from magnetically diffusive accretion disks. Using the PLUTO code we solve the time-dependent resistive MHD equations taking into account the disk and jet evolution simultaneously. The main question we address is which kind of disks do launch jets and which kind of disks do not? In particular, we study how the magnitude and distribution of the (turbulent) magnetic diffusivity affect mass loading and jet acceleration. We have applied a turbulent magnetic diffusivity based on α-prescription, but have also investigate examples where the scale height of diffusivity is larger than that of the disk gas pressure. We further investigate how the ejection efficiency is governed by the magnetic field strength. Our simulations last for up to 5000 dynamical time scales corresponding to 900 orbital periods of the inner disk. As a general result we observe a continuous and robust outflow launched from the inner part of the disk, expanding into a collimated jet of super fast magneto-sonic speed. For long time scales the disk internal dynamics changes, as due to outflow ejection and disk accretion the disk mass decreases. For magneto-centrifugally driven jets we find that for i) less diffusive disks, ii) a stronger magnetic field, iii) a low poloidal diffusivity, or a iv) lower numerical diffusivity (resolution), the mass loading of the outflow is increased -resulting in more powerful jets with high mass flux. For weak magnetization the (weak) outflow is driven by the magnetic pressure gradient. We consider in detail the advection and diffusion of magnetic flux within the disk and we find that the disk and outflow magnetization may substantially change in time. This may have severe impact on the launching and formation process -an initially highly magnetized disk may evolve into a disk of weak magnetization which cannot drive strong outflows. We further investigate the jet asymptotic velocity and the jet rotational velocity in respect of the different launching scenarios. We find a lower degree of jet collimation than previous studies, most probably due to our revised outflow boundary condition.

The goal of this paper is to derive signatures of synchrotron radiation from state-of-the-art simulation models of collimating relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) jets featuring a large-scale helical magnetic field. We perform axisymmetric special relativistic MHD simulations of the jet acceleration region using the PLUTO code. The computational domain extends from the slow magnetosonic launching surface of the disk up to 6000 2 Schwarzschild radii allowing to reach highly relativistic Lorentz factors. The Poynting dominated disk wind develops into a jet with Lorentz factors of Γ 8 and is collimated to 1 • . In addition to the disk jet, we evolve a thermally driven spine jet, emanating from a hypothetical black hole corona. Solving the linearly polarized synchrotron radiation transport within the jet, we derive VLBI radio and (sub-) mm diagnostics such as core shift, polarization structure, intensity maps, spectra and Faraday rotation measure (RM), directly from the Stokes parameters. We also investigate depolarization and the detectability of a λ 2 -law RM depending on beam resolution and observing frequency. We find non-monotonic intrinsic RM profiles which could be detected at a resolution of 100 Schwarzschild radii. In our collimating jet geometry, the strict bi-modality in polarization direction (as predicted by Pariev et al.) can be circumvented. Due to relativistic aberration, asymmetries in the polarization vectors across the jet can hint to the spindirection of the central engine.

Abstract. Protostellar jets most probably originate in turbulent accretion disks surrounding young stellar objects. We investigate the evolution of a disk wind into a collimated jet under the influence of magnetic diffusivity, assuming that the turbulent pattern in the disk will also enter the disk corona and the jet. Using the ZEUS-3D code in the axisymmetry option we solve the timedependent resistive MHD equations for a model setup of a central star surrounded by an accretion disk. The disk is taken as a time-independent boundary condition for the mass flow rate and the magnetic flux distribution. We derive analytical estimates for the magnitude of magnetic diffusion in a protostellar jet connecting our results to earlier work in the limit of ideal MHD. We find that the diffusive jets propagate slower into the ambient medium, most probably due to the lower mass flow rate in the axial direction. Close to the star we find that a quasi stationary state evolves after several hundred (weak diffusion) or thousand (strong diffusion) disk rotations. Magnetic diffusivity affects the protostellar jet structure as follows. The jet poloidal magnetic field becomes de-collimated. The jet velocity increases with increasing diffusivity, while the degree of collimation for the hydrodynamic flow remains more or less the same. We suggest that the mass flux is a proper tracer for the degree of jet collimation and find indications of a critical value for the magnetic diffusivity above which the jet collimation is only weak. We finally develop a self-consistent picture in which all these effects can be explained in the framework of the Lorentz force.