Magnetic inhibition of the recollimation instability in relativistic jets

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the results of three-dimensional relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations aimed at probing the role of regular magnetic field on the development of the instability that accompanies recollimation of relativistic jets. In particular, we studied the recollimation driven by the reconfinement of jets from active galactic nuclei (AGN) by the thermal pressure of galactic coronas. We find that a relatively weak azimuthal magnetic field can completely suppress the recollimation instability in such jets, with the critical magnetisation parameter $\sigma_{cr} < 0.01$. We argue that the recollimation instability is a variant of the centrifugal instability (CFI) and show that our results are consistent with the predictions based on the study of magnetic CFI in rotating fluids. The results are discussed in the context of AGN jets in general and the nature of the Fanaroff-Riley morphological division of extragalactic radio sources in particular.