Millarcsecond Polarization Studies of Compact Extragalactic Radio Sources

这项研究将致力于研究强大的 河外射电源 这些来源与 与类星体和活跃星系的核心， 在很短的时间内产生了巨大的能量 时间尺度，可能是由于材料落入一个 超大质量黑洞 在无线电波段， 紧凑（几光年）的“核心”和“喷气式”特征， 其总强度和偏振度迅速变化。 在 许多来源，明亮的发射'结'似乎向下移动 以数倍于光速的速度喷射。 主要会期 这项研究的一部分将涉及对偏振辐射进行成像， 这些射电源的毫弧秒分辨率。的 基本目标是阐明 不同种类的射电源，并了解 在大规模核爆炸附近发生的物理过程 黑洞 首席研究员被视为杰出的 理论天体物理学家

This research will be devoted to a study of powerful extragalactic radio sources. These sources are associated with the nuclei of quasars and active galaxies, where enormous amounts of energy are generated on very short timescales, probably due to the infall of material onto a supermassive black hole. At radio wavelengths we see very compact (a few light-years) 'cores' and 'jet-like' features, that vary rapidly in total intensity and polarization. In many sources, bright 'knots' of emission appear to move down the jets at several times the speed of light. The main part of the research will involve imaging the polarized radiation from these radio sources at milliarcsecond resolution. The underlying goal is to elucidate the relationships between different classes of radio sources and to understand the physical processes occurring in the vicinity of massive black holes. The Principal Investigator is regarded as an outstanding theoretical astrophysicist.