The subject of this paper is the interpretation of extragalactic radio jets. In this paper I will focus on what we have learned about the nature of extragalactic jets on the basis of model calculations. By model I mean any set of calculations, whether analytic, semi-analytic or numerical, which, when carried through from their respective assumptions to their internally self-consistent conclusions, help place constraints on the physical parameters and processes in the jets and their associated radio lobes. In this field, a visual inspection of a modern high-resolution radio interferometric observation (see review by PERLEY in these proceedings) often leads to statements like “that looks just like such and such in Landau and Lifschitz; I betcha that’s what’s going on!” This I call a speculation, or, at best, a hypothesis. I am addressing here the step beyond hypothesis, namely modeling, which is necessary to confront not only the object in question, but more importantly, the hypothesis itself. In the end, we will remember only the hypotheses.
Two-Dimensional Simulations of Relativistic Extragalactic Jets Crossing an ISM/ICM Interface
