Difficulties in Estimating the Physical Parameters of Compact Radio Sources in Active Galactic Nuclei

The various factors influencing estimates of the physical parameters of compact radio sources in active galactic nuclei (AGN) using a methods based on uniform models of synchrotron radiation sources are analyzed. It is found that the form of the relativistic electron energy density distribution as a function of magnetic energy density (Ee-EH) in the radio sources is determined by the shape of the electron energy spectrum. It is shown that the very large observed deviations of the estimated energies of the field and relativistic particles from equipartition are mainly caused by nonuniformity of the radio sources. In order to obtain correct estimates of the physical parameters of nonuniform radio sources, it is necessary to know their angular sizes at low frequencies (in the opaque region) and their Doppler factors.