Proton-Proton Collisions in Extragalactic Radio Sources

Abstract

The majority of extragalactic radio sources are known to consist of two extended components straddling an optical galaxy or quasar with each component being maintained from the nucleus of the associated optical object through a beam or jet of relativistic plasma and magnetic fields. Hitherto, the energetics of radio source components have been considered essentially from the point of view of the cooling of the relativistic electrons through their interaction with ambient magnetic fields (synchrotron radiation) and with low energy photons (inverse Compton emission). Here we consider a hitherto neglected problem involving the mutual interactions between the fast particles themselves. (The results of a detailed investigation into these interactions will be reported elsewhere — see Okoye and Okeke, 1982.)