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S. O'Neill (U. Minnesota), I. L. Tregillis (Los Alamos National Laboratory), T. W. Jones (U. Minnesota), D. Ryu (Chungnam National University, Korea)
We will present a set of high-resolution 3D MHD simulations exploring the influence of jet Mach number and the structure of the ambient medium on radio jet propagation. Specifically, we model sets of light high- and low-Mach jets moving through both uniform surroundings and King-type atmospheres. Comparing jet morphology and energetics between the various simulations, we will explore the sensitivity of jet propagation to the nature of the surrounding media.
The jet behavior is strongly influenced by the presence or absence of an external density gradient. When the jets move through an increasing buoyant force in the stratified King-type atmospheres, they propagate a given distance more quickly and exhibit less complex shock structures than do their uniform-atmosphere counterparts. Additionally, jets moving into non-uniform surroundings require less energy to reach a given length, meaning that less energy is available per jet length for shock formation and particle acceleration.
We will also examine energy flows in the simulations, including energy exchange between the jets and their surroundings.
This work is supported by the NSF and the University of Minnesota Supercomputing Institute.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: smoneil@msi.umn.edu
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35#5
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.