Dynamical modelling of giant radio quasars in the HETDEX Spring Field

Abstract

Giant radio sources are defined as extragalactic radio sources, hosted by galaxies or quasars, with linear sizes $\geq 0.7$ Mpc. They are thought to represent the final stage of the evolution of radio galaxies whose sizes range from pc to Mpc scales. We analyse in detail the radio morphology and spectra between 54 MHz and 4.85/15.5 GHz of 15 giant radio quasars (GRQs) in the HETDEX Spring Field, and fit dynamical evolution models to the sources' observational properties to study their physical parameters (age of the lobes, jet power, ambient medium density etc.). We compare the physical parameters of the GRQs with published results for a compiled sample of Fanaroff-Riley type II radio sources. We find that the GRQs evolve in significantly lower medium densities, both at the central core radius and in front of the lobes, than smaller-sized radio quasars (RQs) with similar jet powers. The derived central core densities for both populations are, however, highly sensitive to the assumed ambient medium density profile. For both populations combined, the jet power, $Q_{\text{j}}$, is anti-correlated with the age of the lobes, $t_l$ ($R = -0.67$, where $R$ is the Pearson correlation coefficient), as well as the linear size, $D_l$ ($R=-0.32$), but $t_l$ is a much stronger indicator of $Q_{\text{j}}$ than $D_l$. Using a Spearman partial rank correlation analysis, we demonstrate that there is a fundamental relation between $Q_{\text{j}}$, $t_l$, and $D_l$, despite the strong underlying correlation between age and size.