Synchrotron intensity plots from a relativistic stratified jet

Abstract

We examine the effect of a jet transversal structure from magnetohydrodynamic semi-analytical modelling on the total intensity profiles of relativistic jets from active galactic nuclei. In order to determine the conditions for forming double- and triple-peaked transverse intensity profiles, we calculate the radiative transfer for synchrotron emission with self-absorption from the jets described by the models with a constant angular velocity and with a total electric current closed inside a jet. We show that double-peaked profiles appear either in the models with high maximal Lorentz factors or in optically thick conditions. We show that triple-peaked profiles in radio galaxies constrain the fraction of the emitting particles in a jet. We introduce the possible conditions for triple-peaked profiles under the assumptions that nonthermal electrons are preferably located at the jet edges or are distributed according to Ohmic heating.