JET MODELS AND OBSERVED JETS IN A SAMPLE OF SUPERLUMINAL ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

We present a sample of 33 extragalactic sources with radio jets and superluminal motions, that includes different types of AGNs: 22 quasars, 6 blazars, 1 Seyfert galaxy, 3 radiogalaxies, and 1 empty field radio source. The observed parameters of the sources and their jets (jet velocity, redshift, fluxes and jet sizes) have been used as input to the relativistic jet model predictions to derive the following model parameters: the source luminosity, the maximum brightness temperature, the characteristic frequency of the synchrotron radiation and the magnetic field. The global parameters of the jets and central sources have been compared, to study the relations between the kinematic and radiative properties of the jets. The important results are: (1) The observed luminosities (L(ob)) and the relativistic jet model luminosities (L(th)) follow a correlation. (2) The maximum brightness temperatures T(b) predicted by the models are in the range 10(11)-10(13) K. (3) The Lorentz factor, gamma-jet, and the luminosities are compared and evidence is discussed for two types of relativistic jets, those produced by high and low luminosities. For the high luminosity sources, a possible correlation between the Lorentz factor and the luminosity, implies that more luminous sources produce more powerful jets. (4) The magnetic field, the characteristic frequency and the radio luminosity were found to be correlated with the IRAS and X-ray luminosities. These results are indicative of a possible relation between the emission mechanisms that are producing the radio properties of the jet sources and their FIR and X-ray emission.