Community Bibliography

The Magnetic Switch as the Origin of the FRI/FRII Break

Author(s): D. G. Payne, S. Edgington, D. L. Meier, Patrick Godon, K. R. Lind
Editor(s): G. Gilmore, P.C. van der Kruit
Year of Publication: 1998
ISBN: 9781583814802 View in Library Catalog
Proceedings Title: Stellar populations : proceedings of the 164th symposium of the International Astronomical Union
Conference Location: The Hague, The Netherlands
Conference Dates: August 15-19, 1994
Start Page: 51
End Page: 52
Abstract: We propose that the Fanaroff & Riley division between class I and class II radio sources has its origins in the coronae of magnetized accretion disks around black holes. The ``magnetic switch'', an effect that critically controls the speed of jets produced by such disks, can explain both qualitative and quantitative differences in the properties of the two classes. These include why morphology and jet speed are functions of radio power and why the division between the two classes is a strong function of galaxy optical luminosity.