Jet propagation through inhomogeneous media and shock ionization

MANEL PERUCHO; ALVARO LABIANO; JOSÉ LÓPEZ-MIRALLES; VICTORIA REYNALDI

Torum

Workshop; 6th Workshop on Compact Steep Spectrum and GHz Peaked Spectrum Radio Sources; 2021

Nicolaus Copernicus University - Faculty of Phisics, Astronomy and Informatics

In this contribution we present the first numerical simulations of a relativistic outflow propagating through the inner hundreds of parsecs of its host galaxy, including atomic and ionised hydrogen, and the cooling effects of ionisation. Our results are preliminary, but we observe efficient shock ionization of atomic hydrogen in interstellar clouds. The mean density of the interstellar medium in these initial simulations is lower than that expected in typical galaxies, which makes cooling times longer and thus no recombination is observed inside the shocked region. The velocities achieved by the shocked gas in the simulations are in agreement with observational results, although with a wide spectrum of values.