Abstract
Context.Relativistic jets are ubiquitous in astrophysics. High-mass microquasars (HMMQs) are useful laboratories for studying these jets because they are relatively close and evolve over observable timescales. The ambient medium into which the jet propagates, however, is far from homogeneous. Corresponding simulation studies to date consider various forms of a wind-shaped ambient medium, but typically neglect radiative cooling and relativistic effects.Aims.We investigate the dynamical and structural effects of radiative losses and system parameters on relativistic jets in HMMQs, from the jet launch to its propagation over several tens of orbital separations.Methods.We used 3D relativistic hydrodynamical simulations including parameterized radiative cooling derived from relativistic thermal plasma distribution to carry out parameter studies around two fiducial cases inspired by Cygnus X-1 and Cygnus X-3.Results.Radiative losses are found to be more relevant in Cygnus X-3 than Cygnus X-1. Varying jet power, jet temperature, or the wind of the donor star tends to have a larger impact at early times, when the jet forms and instabilities initially develop, than at later times when the jet has reached a turbulent state.Conclusions.Radiative losses may be dynamically and structurally relevant at least for Cygnus X-3 and thus should be examined in more detail.
Highlights
Jets are an ubiquitous manifestation of the activity of compact objects that are at the origin of the microquasar phenomenon (Romero et al 2017)
The layout of the article is as follows: in Sect. 2 we present the physics of hydrodynamical relativistic jets, our models for radiative losses, and the numerical setup and methods we used in our parameter study of jet outbreak
Two fiducial cases inspired by the High-mass microquasars (HMMQs) Cygnus X-1 and Cygnus X-3 were considered, along with parameter sensitivity studies
Summary
Jets are an ubiquitous manifestation of the activity of compact objects that are at the origin of the microquasar phenomenon (Romero et al 2017). HMMQ launch powerful collimated jets (e.g., Mirabel & Rodriguez 1999; Gallo et al 2005) at relativistic speeds either from the accretion disk of the compact object through the Blandford-Payne magneto-centrifugal ejection mechanism (Blandford & Payne 1982), or the BH magnetosphere through the Blandford-Znajek mechanism (Blandford & Znajek 1977). In HMMQs, the ambient medium is dominated by the powerful winds of the stellar companion, which are often the source of accretion for the compact object. This stellar wind dominates the environment in which the jet will be launched and evolve, which makes the jet propagation in HMMQ fundamentally different from jets in AGNs and lowmass microquasars
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