Accretion onto supermassive black holes in some active galactic nuclei (AGN) drives relativistic plasma jets, dissipating a significant portion of their kinetic energy into gamma-ray radiation. This paper investigates the location of this energy dissipation, using a novel diagnostic called the "seed factor." Analyzing 62 multiwavelength spectral energy distributions of gamma-ray quasars, the study finds that the molecular torus, located approximately 1 parsec from the black hole, is the dominant location for energy dissipation in powerful jets.
Publisher
Nature Communications
Published On
Oct 30, 2020
Authors
Adam Leah W. Harvey, Markos Georganopoulos, Eileen T. Meyer
Tags
supermassive black holes
gamma-ray quasars
energy dissipation
multiwavelength spectral energy distributions
relativistic plasma jets
molecular torus
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