Mass loading and knot formation in AGN jets by stellar winds

Abstract

Jets from active galaxies propagate from the central black hole out to the radio lobes on scales of hundreds of kiloparsecs. The jets may encounter giant stars with strong stellar winds and produce observable signatures. For strong winds and weak jets, the interaction may truncate the jet flow during its transit via the mass loading. For weaker jets, the interaction can produce knots in the jet. We present recent 3DMHD numerical simulations to model the evolution of this jet-wind interaction and its observational consequences. We explore (i) the relative mechanical luminosity of the radio jets and the stellar winds (ii) the impact parameter between the jets' axis and the stellar orbital path (iii) the relative magnetic field strength of the jets and the stellar winds.