• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.159-161
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• 2014

The jet production efficiency of radio galaxies can be quantified by comparison of their kinetic jet powers $P_{jet}$ and Bondi accretion powers $P_B$. These two parameters are known to be related linearly, with the jet power resulting from the Bondi power by multiplication with an efficiency factor of order 1%. Using a recently published (Nemmen & Tchekhovskoy 2014) high-quality sample of 27 radio galaxies, I construct a $P_B$ - $P_{jet}$ diagram that includes information on optical AGN types as far as available. This diagram indicates that the jet production efficiency is a function of AGN type: Seyfert 2 galaxies seem to be systematically (with a false alarm probability of $4.3{\times}10^{-4}$) less efficient, by about one order of magnitude, in powering jets than Seyfert 1 galaxies, LINERs, or the remaining radio galaxies. This suggests an evolutionary sequence from Sy 2s to Sy 1s and LINERs, controlled by an interplay of jets on the one hand and dust and gas in galactic nuclei on the other hand. When taking this effect into account, the $P_B$ - $P_{jet}$ relation is probably much tighter intrinsically than currently assumed.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.299-311
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• 2015

We report first results from KVN and VERA Array (KaVA) VLBI observations obtained in the frame of our Plasma-physics of Active Galactic Nuclei (PAGaN) project. We observed eight selected AGN at 22 and 43 GHz in single polarization (LCP) between March 2014 and April 2015. Each source was observed for 6 to 8 hours per observing run to maximize the uv coverage. We obtained a total of 15 deep high-resolution images permitting the identification of individual circular Gaussian jet components and three spectral index maps of BL Lac, 3C 111 and 3C 345 from simultaneous dual-frequency observations. The spectral index maps show trends in agreement with general expectations – flat core and steep jets – while the actual value of the spectral index for jets shows indications for a dependence on AGN type. We analyzed the kinematics of jet components of BL Lac and 3C 111, detecting superluminal proper motions with maximum apparent speeds of about 5c. This constrains the lower limits of the intrinsic component velocities to ~ 0.98c and the upper limits of the angle between jet and line of sight to ~20°. In agreement with global jet expansion, jet components show systematically larger diameters d at larger core distances r, following the global relation d ≈ 0.2r, albeit within substantial scatter.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.60.1-60.1
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• 2014

In the center of an Active Galactic Nuclei(AGN) is a supermassive black hole which accretes matter from its surroundings. The radio-loud AGN launch two relativistic jets perpendicular to the accretion disk which terminates into radio lobes located up to megaparsec away. Blazars form a small subset of radio-loud AGNs with one of two relativistic jets pointing toward the observer's line of sight. Many blazars often show flares at different frequencies. And these flares at different frequencies are known that they often correlate with each other. In 2013 December, there was a gamma-ray flare in 3C 279, one of the brightest blazars, Dec 2013. So we want to reveal that whether this flare correlates with radio flare or not, and where the flare originate. With polarization observation at radio frequencies, we can study the physical properties of the magnetic field in the innermost regions of the relativistic jets. Therefore, we have conducted polarization monitoring of this source from Dec. 2013 to Jun. 2014 with KVN(Korea VLBI Network) radio telescopes at 22, 43 and 86GHz. Here we present the initial results of the monitoring of 3C 279. We prospect that we can reveal the origin of this gamma-ray flare by comparing with our radio data.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.76.1-76.1
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• 2019

CTA 102, one of gamma-ray bright active galactic nuclei (AGN) has been observed with Korean very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) network (KVN) during the period of 2012 December-2018 May as part of interferometric Monitoring Of Gamma-ray Bright AGN (iMOGABA). Multi-frequency VLBI observations enable us to compare the milliarcsecond(mas)-scale iMOGABA images of relativistic jets with those from the Monitoring Of Jets in AGN with Very long baseline array (VLBA) Experiments (MOJAVE) and the VLBA-Boston University(BU)-BLAZAR programs which use VLBA with its angular resolutions of 0.2-1.3 mas. In spite of the relative larger beam sizes of KVN (1-10 mas), we are able to identify jet components of CTA 102 using the KVN multi-frequency VLBI observations with those resolved with VLBA. Considering an instrumental beam blending effect on the jet component identification, we were able to obtain a blending shift of the core position based on a convolution analysis using the VLBA data. When we apply the core position shift to the KVN images of CTA 102, we find that the identified jet components of CTA 102 from the KVN observations are well matched with those from the VLBA observations. Based on the results of the analysis, we may be able to study the jet kinematics and its correlation with gamma-ray flare activity.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.51.3-51.3
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• 2019

Its ability to measure the polarization of light at four frequencies makes the KVN a "plasma physics observatory" that can probe the internal physics (e.g., magnetic fields, outflow geometries) of AGN radio jets and cores. We initiated a Key Science Program, the Plasma-physics of Active Galactic Nuclei (PAGaN) project, dedicated to polarimetric monitoring of 14 radio-bright AGN. We have been able to measure the Faraday rotation measure of the cores of our targets as function of frequency; the observed scaling relation is in good agreement with conically expanding outflows to first order. We are further probing a polarized hotspot in the jet of 3C84 and possible systematic differences in the Faraday rotation in BL Lacertae objects and flat spectrum radio quasars.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.195-199
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• 2014

We present a GUI-based interactive Python program, VIMAP, which generates radio spectral index maps of active galactic nuclei (AGN) from Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) maps obtained at different frequencies. VIMAP is a handy tool for the spectral analysis of synchrotron emission from AGN jets, specifically of spectral index distributions, turn-over frequencies, and core-shifts. In general, the required accurate image alignment is difficult to achieve because of a loss of absolute spatial coordinate information during VLBI data reduction (self-calibration) and/or intrinsic variations of source structure as function of frequency. These issues are overcome by VIMAP which in turn is based on the two-dimensional cross-correlation algorithm of Croke & Gabuzda (2008). In this paper, we briefly review the problem of aligning VLBI AGN maps, describe the workflow of VIMAP, and present an analysis of archival VLBI maps of the active nucleus 3C 120.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.177-187
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• 2003

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are distant, powerful sources of radiation over the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma-rays. There is much evidence that they are driven by gravitational accretion of stars, dust, and gas, onto central massive black holes (MBHs) imprisoning anywhere from $\~$1 to $\~$10,000 million solar masses; such objects may naturally form in the centers of galaxies during their normal dynamical evolution. A small fraction of AGNs, of the radio-loud type (RLAGNs), are somehow able to generate powerful synchrotron-emitting structures (cores, jets, lobes) with sizes ranging from pc to Mpc. A brief summary of AGN observations and theories is given, with an emphasis on RLAGNs. Preliminary results from the imaging of 10000 extragalactic radio sources observed in the MITVLA snapshot survey, and from a new analytic theory of the time-variable power output from Kerr black hole magnetospheres, are presented. To better understand the complex physical processes within the central engines of AGNs, it is important to confront the observations with theories, from the viewpoint of analyzing the time-variable behaviours of AGNs - which have been recorded over both 'short' human ($10^0-10^9\;s$) and 'long' cosmic ($10^{13} - 10^{17}\;s$) timescales. Some key ingredients of a basic mathematical formalism are outlined, which may help in building detailed Monte-Carlo models of evolving AGN populations; such numerical calculations should be potentially important tools for useful interpretation of the large amounts of statistical data now publicly available for both AGNs and RLAGNs.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.84.1-84.1
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• 2012

One of the most intriguing questions regarding black hole (BH)-galaxy co-evolution picture is how the BH accretion, or active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity is linked to star formation (SF) activity. While it is suggested that AGN luminosity of quasars correlates with SF luminosity, it is still unclear how AGN activity is connected to SF activity based on host galaxy properties. Utilizing AKARI's unique slit-less spectroscopic capability and wavelength coverage, we probed star formation activity of several types of AGNs by measuring the PAH 3.3 ${\mu}m$ emission. First, we detected the PAH 3.3 ${\mu}m$ emission from seven out of 27 Seyfert type-1 galaxies at z~0.36. While these galaxies deviate significantly from the local Mbh-${\sigma}$ relation meaning their black holes proceed the host galaxies in terms of evolution, they appear to follow the correlation between nuclear SF and AGN activities of local Seyfert type-1 galaxies. This implies that SF and AGN activities are directly connected at the nuclear region for these Seyfert type-1 AGNs. We also obtained 2-5 ${\mu}m$ spectra for subsamples of Quasar Spectroscopic Observation in Near-infrared Grism (QSONG) which consists of reverberation-mapped AGNs and PG-QSOs. We detected the PAH 3.3 ${\mu}m$ emission from 16 out of 31 reverberation-mapped AGNs and 10 out of 49 PG-QSOs and measured their line strengths. We present the correlations between SF and AGN activities and discuss if there is any dependency of the correlations on properties of host galaxies, such as morphology, or the presence of radio jets.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.605-609
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• 2004

We present a set of high-resolution 3D MHD simulations exploring the evolution of light, supersonic jets in cluster environments. We model sets of high- and low-Mach jets entering both uniform surroundings and King-type atmospheres and propagating distances more than 100 times the initial jet radius. Through complimentary analyses of synthetic observations and energy flow, we explore the detailed interactions between these jets and their environments. We find that jet cocoon morphology is strongly influenced by the structure of the ambient medium. Jets moving into uniform atmospheres have more pronounced backflow than their non-uniform counterparts, and this difference is clearly reflected by morphological differences in the synthetic observations. Additionally, synthetic observations illustrate differences in the appearances of terminal hotspots and the x-ray and radio correlations between the high- and low-Mach runs. Exploration of energy flow in these systems illustrates the general conversion of kinetic to thermal and magnetic energy in all of our simulations. Specifically, we examine conversion of energy type and the spatial transport of energy to the ambient medium. Determination of the evolution of the energy distribution in these objects will enhance our understanding of the role of AGN feedback in cluster environments.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.240.2-240.2
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• 2012

AGN(Active Galactic Nucleus) consists of a supermassive black hole located at its center, an accretion disk around the black hole, and bipolar jets. Since May 2011, we have performed the MOGABA(Monitoring Of GAmma-ray Bright AGN) project for observing gamma-ray bright AGN once a week at multifrequencies using KVN(Korean VLBI Network) 21m radio telescopes. The MOGABA project is the observations for measuring the degree of polarization, polarization angle, and total flux of about 20 AGN at 22, 43 and 86GHz. By this project, we are able to investigate polarization characteristics, spectral index, and variation of rotation measure at radio wavelengths of gamma-ray bright AGN and to study possible relation between gamma-ray flares and magnetic field structure change in AGN. According to previous research, gamma-ray flares of some AGN are coincident with large changes in angle of linear polarization. In this paper we report the preliminary results of linear polarization and total flux at 22, 43, 86GHz of gamma-ray bright quasars 3C279 and 1510-089 showing noticeable variation of total flux at 22GHz in late 2011, and discuss possible correlation with gamma ray light curves.