No Arabic abstract
Recent detection of the neutrino events IceCube-170922A, 13 muon-neutrino events observed in 2014-2015 and IceCube-141209A by IceCube observatory from the Blazars, namely TXS 0506+056, PKS 0502+049/TXS 0506+056 and GB6 J1040+0617 respectively in the state of enhanced gamma-ray emission, indicates the acceleration of cosmic rays in the blazar jets. The photo-meson ($pgamma$) interaction cannot explain the IceCube observations of 13 neutrino events. The non-detection of broadline emission in the optical spectra of the IceCube blazars, however, question the hadronuclear (pp) interaction interpretation through relativistic jet meets with high density cloud. In this work, we investigate the proton blazar model in which the non-relativistic protons that come into existence under the charge neutrality condition of the blazar jet can offer sufficient target matter for $pp$ interaction with shock-accelerated protons, to describe the observed high-energy gamma-rays and neutrino signal from the said blazars. Our findings suggest that the model can explain consistently the observed electromagnetic spectrum in combination with appropriate number of neutrino events from the corresponding blazars.
The nearest active radio galaxy Centaurus (Cen) A is a gamma-ray emitter in GeV to TeV energy scale. The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) and non-simultaneous Fermi-LAT observation indicate an unusual spectral hardening above few GeV energies in the gamma-ray spectrum of Cen A. Very recently the H.E.S.S. observatory resolved the kilo parsec (kpc)-scale jets in Centaurus A at TeV energies. On the other hand, the Pierre Auger Observatory (PAO) detects a few ultra high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) events from Cen-A. The proton blazar inspired model, which considers acceleration of both electrons and hadronic cosmic rays in AGN jet, can explain the observed coincident high energy neutrinos and gamma rays from Ice-cube detected AGN jets. Here we have employed the proton blazar inspired model to explain the observed GeV to TeV gamma-ray spectrum features including the spectrum hardening at GeV energies along with the PAO observation on cosmic rays from Cen-A. Our findings suggest that the model can explain consistently the observed electromagnetic spectrum in combination with the appropriate number of UHECRs from Cen A.
Recent detection of the neutrino event, IceCube-170922A by IceCube observatory from the Blazar TXS 0506+056 in the state of enhanced gamma ray emission indicates for acceleration of cosmic rays in the blazar jet. The non-detection of the broadline emission in the optical spectrum of TXS 0506+056 and other BL Lac objects suggests that external photons emissions are weak and hence photo-meson (p-gamma) interaction may not be a favored mechanism for high energy neutrino production. The lack of broadline signatures also creates doubt about the presence of a high density cloud in the vicinity of the super-massive black hole (SMBH) of TXS 0506+056 and consequently raised question on hadronuclear (pp) interaction interpretation like relativistic jet meets with high density cloud. Here we demonstrate that non-relativistic protons in the proton blazar model, those come into existence under charge neutrality condition of the blazar jet, offer sufficient target matter for pp-interaction with shock accelerated protons and consequently the model can describe consistently the observed high energy gamma rays and neutrino signal from the blazar TXS 0506+056.
High redshift blazars are among the most powerful objects in the Universe. Although they represent a significant fraction of the extragalactic hard X-ray sky, they are not commonly detected in gamma-rays. High redshift (z>2) objects represent <10 per cent of the AGN population observed by Fermi so far, and gamma-ray flaring activity from these sources is even more uncommon. The characterization of the radio-to-gamma-ray properties of high redshift blazars represent a powerful tool for the study of both the energetics of such extreme objects and the Extragalactic Background Light. We present results of a multi-band campaign on TXS 0536+145, which is the highest redshift flaring gamma-ray blazar detected so far. At the peak of the flare the source reached an apparent isotropic gamma-ray luminosity of 6.6x10^49 erg/s, which is comparable with the luminosity observed from the most powerful blazars. The physical properties derived from the multi-wavelength observations are then compared with those shown by the high redshift population. In addition preliminary results from the high redshift flaring blazar PKS 2149-306 will be discussed.
3C 454.3 is the most variable and intense extragalactic gamma-ray blazar detected by AGILE and Fermi during the last 4 years. This remarkable source shows extreme flux variability (about a fact or of 20) on a time-scale of 24-48 hours, as well as repeated flares on a time-scale of more than a year. The dynamic range, from the quiescence up to the most intense gamma-ray super-flare, is of about two orders of magnitude. We present the gamma-ray properties of 3C 454.3, comparing both the characteristics of flares at different levels and their multi-wavelength behavior. Moreover, an interpretation of both the long- and short-term properties of 3C 454.3 is reviewed, with particular emphasis on the two gamma-ray super-flares observed in 2009 and 2010, when 3C 454.3 became the brightest source of the whole gamma-ray sky.
The ANTARES telescope is well-suited to detect neutrinos produced in astrophysical transient sources as it can observe a full hemisphere of the sky at all times with a high duty cycle. Radio-loud active galactic nuclei with jets pointing almost directly towards the observer, the so-called blazars, are particularly attractive potential neutrino point sources. The all-sky monitor LAT on board the Fermi satellite probes the variability of any given gamma-ray bright blazar in the sky on time scales of hours to months. Assuming hadronic models, a strong correlation between the gamma-ray and the neutrino fluxes is expected. Selecting a narrow time window on the assumed neutrino production period can significantly reduce the background. An unbinned method based on the minimization of a likelihood ratio was applied to a subsample of data collected in 2008 (61 days live time). By searching for neutrinos during the high state periods of the AGN light curve, the sensitivity to these sources was improved by about a factor of two with respect to a standard time-integrated point source search. First results on the search for neutrinos associated with ten bright and variable Fermi sources are presented.