Physics
Scientific paper
Apr 1989
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1989natur.338..484d&link_type=abstract
Nature (ISSN 0028-0836), vol. 338, April 6, 1989, p. 484, 485. Research supported by NSF, NASA, Rockwell International Corp., an
Physics
23
Astronomical Spectroscopy, Self Absorption, Spectrum Analysis, Synchrotron Radiation, Active Galactic Nuclei, Electron Energy, Power Spectra, Relativistic Electron Beams
Scientific paper
Self-absorbed synchrotron radiation produced by electrons with a power-law distribution of energies has a unique spectral shape: intensity is proportional to nu to the 5/2, where nu is the frequency, irrespective of the power law index of the electrons. It has been asserted that the measurement of a spectral index greater than 5/2 at frequencies below the 'far-IR turnovers' observed in the spectra of many radio-quiet AGN is incompatible with the physics of self-absorbed synchrotron sources. It is shown here that plausible electron energy distributions can lead to self-absorbed synchrotron spectra which are steeper than nu to the 5/2 over 1-1.5 orders of magnitude in frequency. This indicates that none of the existing observations are in fact incompatible with self-absorbed synchrotron radiation as the source.
Begelman Mitchell C.
de Kool Martijn
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