Confronting hydrodynamic simulations of relativistic jets with data: what do we learn about particles and fields?

We review recent relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of jets, and their interpretation in terms of the results from linear stability analysis. These studies show that, interpreted naively, the distribution of synchrotron intensity will in general be a poor guide to the physical state (density and pressure) of the underlying flow, and that even if the physical state can be inferred, it, in turn, may prove to be a poor guide to the source dynamics, in terms of the transport of energy and momentum from the central engine. However, we demonstrate that an interplay of simulation and linear stability analysis provides a powerful tool for elucidating the nature and character of structures that jets may sustain. From such studies we can explain the complex behaviour of observed jets, which manifest both stationary and propagating structures, without recourse to ad hoc macroscopic disturbances. This provides a framework for the interpretation of multi-epoch total intensity data wherein an understanding of the character of individual flow features will allow the effects of physical state and dynamics to be deconvolved