Structure of Magnetic Tower Jets in Stratified Atmospheres

Using a new approach to modeling the magnetically dominated outflows from active galactic nuclei, we study the propagation of magnetic tower jets in gravitationally stratified atmospheres (such as a galaxy cluster environment) at large scales (more than tens of kiloparsecs) by performing three-dimensional MHD simulations. We present the detailed analysis of the MHD waves, the cylindrical radial force balance, and the collimation of magnetic tower jets. As magnetic energy is injected into a small central volume over a finite amount of time, the magnetic fields expand down the background density gradient, forming a collimated jet and an expanded "lobe" due to the gradually decreasing background density and pressure. Both the jet and lobes are magnetically dominated. In addition, the injection and expansion produce a hydrodynamic shock wave that moves ahead of and encloses the magnetic tower jet. This shock can eventually break the hydrostatic equilibrium in the ambient medium and cause a global gravitational contraction. This contraction produces a strong compression at the head of the magnetic tower front and helps to collimate the jet radially to produce a slender body. At the outer edge of the jet, the magnetic pressure is balanced by the background (modified) gas pressure, without any significant contribution from the hoop stress. On the other hand, along the central axis of the jet, hoop stress is the dominant force in shaping the central collimation of the poloidal current. The system, which possesses a highly wound helical magnetic configuration, never quite reaches a force-free equilibrium state, although the evolution becomes much slower at late stages. The simulations were performed without any initial perturbations, so the overall structures of the jet remain mostly axisymmetric.