Exploring the properties of milliarcsecond radio sources

Cosmological applications of the "redshift - angular size" test require knowledge of the linear size of the "standard rod" used. In this paper, we study the properties of a large sample of 140 milliarcsecond compact radio sources with flux densities measured at 6 cm and 20 cm, compiled by Gurvits et al.(1999). Using the best-fitted cosmological parameters given by Planck/WMAP9 observations, we investigate the characteristic length $l_m$ as well as its dependence on the source luminosity $L$ and redshift $l_m=l L^β(1+z)^n$. For the full sample, measurements of the angular size $θ$ provide a tight constraint on the linear size parameters. We find that cosmological evolution of the linear size is small ($|n|\simeq 10^{-2}$) and consistent with previous analysis. However, a substantial evolution of linear sizes with luminosity is still required ($β\simeq 0.17$). Furthermore, similar analysis done on sub-samples defined by different source optical counterparts and different redshift ranges, seems to support the scheme of treating radio galaxies and quasars with distinct strategies. Finally, a cosmological-model-independent method is discussed to probe the properties of angular size of milliarcsecond radio quasars. Using the corrected redshift - angular size relation for quasar sample, we obtained a value of the matter density parameter, $Ω_m=0.292^{+0.065}_{-0.090}$, in the spatially flat $Λ$CDM cosmology.

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