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Register a new userRadio-Gamma-ray connection and spectral evolution in 4C +49.22 (S4 1150+49): the Fermi, Swift and Planck view
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The Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected a strong gamma-ray flare on 2011 May 15 from a source identified as 4C 49.22, a flat spectrum radio quasar also known as S4 1150+49. This blazar, characterised by a prominent radio-optical-X-ray jet, was in a low gamma-ray activity state during the first years of Fermi observations. Simultaneous observations during the quiescent, outburst and post-flare gamma-ray states were obtained by Swift, Planck and optical-IR-radio telescopes (INAOE, Catalina CSS, VLBA, Metsahovi). The flare is observed from microwave to X-ray bands with correlated variability and the Fermi, Swift and Planck data for this FSRQ show some features more typical of BL Lac objects, like the synchrotron peak in the optical band that outshines the thermal blue-bump emission, and the X-ray spectral softening. Multi-epoch VLBA observations show the ejection of a new component close in time with the GeV gamma-ray flare. The radio-to-gamma-ray spectral energy distribution is modeled and fitted successfully for the outburst and the post-flare epochs using either a single flaring blob with two emission processes (synchrotron self Compton, and external-radiation Compton), and a two-zone model with SSC-only mechanism.
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The Fermi-LAT revealed that the census of the gamma-ray sky is dominated by blazars. Looking for a possible connection between radio and gamma-ray emission is a central issue for understanding the blazar physics, and various works were dedicated to this topic. However, while a strong and significant correlation was found between radio and gamma-ray emission in the 0.1-100 GeV energy range, the connection between radio and very high energy (VHE, E>0.1 TeV) emission is still elusive. The main reason is the lack of a homogeneous VHE sky coverage, due to the operational mode of the imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. With the present work we aim to quantify and assess the significance of the possible connection between high-resolution radio emission, on milliarcsecond scale, and GeV-TeV gamma-ray emission in blazars. For achieving our goal we extract two large and unbiased blazar samples from the 1FHL and 2FHL Fermi catalogs, above 10 GeV and 50 GeV, respectively. To investigate how the correlation evolves as the gamma-ray energy increases, we perform the same analysis by using the 0.1-300 GeV 3FGL gamma-ray energy fluxes. When we consider the 0.1-300 GeV gamma-ray energy range, we find a strong and significant correlation for all of the blazar sub-classes. Conversely, when we consider the gamma-ray emission above 10 GeV the correlation with the radio emission vanishes, with the exception of the blazar sub-class of high synchrotron peaked objects.
Relativistic jets are one of the most powerful manifestations of the release of energy related to the supermassive black holes at the centre of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Their emission is observed across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from the radio band to gamma rays. Despite decades of efforts, many aspects of the physics of relativistic jets remain elusive. In particular, the location and the mechanisms responsible for the high-energy emission and the connection of the variability at different wavelengths are among the greatest challenges in the study of AGN. Recent high resolution radio observations of flaring objects locate the high-energy emitting region downstream the jet at parsec scale distance from the central engine, posing questions on the nature of the seed photons upscattered to gamma-rays. Furthermore, monitoring campaigns of the most active blazars indicate that not all the high energy flares have the same characteristics in the various energy bands, even from the same source, making the interpretation of the mechanism responsible for the high-energy emission not trivial. Although the variability of the most luminous blazars is well explained by the shock-in-jet scenario, the sub-class of TeV emitting objects suggests a more complex emission model with velocity gradients in a structured jet. This contribution presents results obtained by recent multiwavelength campaigns of blazars aimed at studying the radio and gamma-ray connection and the physical mechanisms at the basis of the emission in these low and high energy bands.
We present simultaneous Planck, Swift, Fermi, and ground-based data for 105 blazars belonging to three samples with flux limits in the soft X-ray, hard X-ray, and gamma-ray bands. Our unique data set has allowed us to demonstrate that the selection method strongly influences the results, producing biases that cannot be ignored. Almost all the BL Lac objects have been detected by Fermi-LAT, whereas ~40% of the flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) in the radio, soft X-ray, and hard X-ray selected samples are still below the gamma-ray detection limit even after integrating 27 months of Fermi-LAT data. The radio to sub-mm spectral slope of blazars is quite flat up to ~70GHz, above which it steepens to <alpha>~-0.65. BL Lacs have significantly flatter spectra than FSRQs at higher frequencies. The distribution of the rest-frame synchrotron peak frequency ( upS) in the SED of FSRQs is the same in all the blazar samples with < upS>=10^13.1 Hz, while the mean inverse-Compton peak frequency, < upIC>, ranges from 10^21 to 10^22 Hz. The distributions of upS and of upIC of BL Lacs are much broader and are shifted to higher energies than those of FSRQs and strongly depend on the selection method. The Compton dominance of blazars ranges from ~0.2 to ~100, with only FSRQs reaching values >3. Its distribution is broad and depends strongly on the selection method, with gamma-ray selected blazars peaking at ~7 or more, and radio-selected blazars at values ~1, thus implying that the assumption that the blazar power is dominated by high-energy emission is a selection effect. Simple SSC models cannot explain the SEDs of most of the gamma-ray detected blazars in all samples. The SED of the blazars that were not detected by Fermi-LAT may instead be consistent with SSC emission. Our data challenge the correlation between bolometric luminosity and upS predicted by the blazar sequence.
We study the spectral evolution of 13 short duration Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) detected by the Gamma Burst Monitor (GBM) on board Fermi. We study spectra resolved in time at the level of 2-512 ms in the 8 keV-35 MeV energy range. We find a strong correlation between the observed peak energy Ep and the flux P within individual short GRBs. The slope of the Ep P^s correlation for individual bursts ranges between ~0.4 and ~1. There is no correlation between the low energy spectral index and the peak energy or the flux. Our results show that in our 13 short GRBs Ep evolves in time tracking the flux. This behavior is similar to what found in the population of long GRBs and it is in agreement with the evidence that long GRBs and (the still few) short GRBs with measured redshifts follow the same rest frame Ep-Liso correlation. Its origin is most likely to be found in the radiative mechanism that has to be the same in both classes of GRBs.
Blazars are a sub-category of radio-loud active galactic nuclei with relativistic jets pointing towards to the observer. They are well-known for their non-thermal variable emission, which practically extends over the whole electromagnetic spectrum. Despite the plethora of multi-wavelength observations, the issue about the origin of the $gamma$-ray and radio emission in blazar jets remains unsettled. Here, we construct a parametric leptonic model for studying the connection between the $gamma$-ray and radio emission in both steady-state and flaring states of blazars. Assuming that relativistic electrons are injected continuously at a fixed distance from the black hole, we numerically study the evolution of their population as it propagates to larger distances while losing energy due to expansion and radiative cooling. In this framework, $gamma$-ray photons are naturally produced at small distances (e.g. $10^{-3}$ pc) when the electrons are still very energetic, whereas the radio emission is produced at larger distances (e.g. $1$ pc), after the electrons have cooled and the emitting region has become optically thin to synchrotron self-absorption due to expansion. We present preliminary results of our numerical investigation for the steady-state jet emission and the predicted time lags between $gamma$-rays and radio during flares.
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