Magnetodynamical acceleration of cosmic jets: sweeping-magnetic-twist mechanism

Abstract

Characteristic behavior of cosmic jets predicted by a magnetodynamic mechanism proposed by Uchida and Shibata is discussed in terms of recent observational results of bipolar flows from star-forming regions as examples of low-energy cases. The theoretical model considers the twisting-up of part of the large-scale magnetic field with the driving mechanism being the contracting rotation of the accretion disk around the gravitating center. The twisted field screws out the mass from the surface layers of the disk along the large-scale external field, explaining the observed tuning-fork type of distribution of the cold CO bipolar flows, gradual acceleration of the flows from the vicinity of the disk, and the helical velocity field in the outflows, all of which are not easy to explain by previous hypotheses assuming the wind and blast from the central object. Prospects of application of this mechanism to high-energy jets from active galactic nuclei or such peculiar objects in the galaxy like SS433 or Sco X-1 are discussed from the point of view of the similarity inherent in the mechanism.