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Register a new userMulti-waveband Variations of Blazars during Gamma-ray Outbursts
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Authors
Alan P. Marscher
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Multi-wavelength light curves of bright gamma-ray blazars (e.g., 3C 454.3) reveal strong correlations across wavebands, yet striking dissimilarities in the details. This conundrum can be explained if the variable flux and polarization result from both (1) modulation in the magnetic field and relativistic electron content imparted at the jet input and (2) turbulence in the flow. In the Turbulent Extreme Multi-Zone (TEMZ) model being developed by the author, much of the optical and high-energy radiation in a blazar is emitted near the 43 GHz core of the jet as seen in VLBA images, parsecs from the central engine, as indicated by observations of a number of blazars. The model creates simulated light curves through numerical calculations that approximate the behavior of turbulent plasma - modulated by random fluctuations of the jet flow - crossing a cone-shaped standing shock system that compresses the plasma and accelerates electrons to highly relativistic energies. A standing shock oriented transverse to the jet axis (Mach disk) at the vertex of the conical shock can create a variable nonthermal seed photon field that is highly blueshifted in the frame of the faster jet plasma, leading to highly luminous, rapidly variable gamma-ray emission.
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The author is developing a numerical code with thousands of emission zones to simulate the time-dependent multi-waveband emission from blazars. The code is based on a model in which turbulent plasma flowing at a relativistic speed down a jet crosses a standing conical collimation shock that accelerates electrons to maximum energies in the 5-100 GeV range. This paper reports early results produced by the model. The simulated light curves and time profiles of the degree and position angle of polarization have a number of features in common with the observational data of blazars. Maps of the polarized intensity structure can be compared with those of blazars observed with very long baseline interferometry at short millimeter wavelengths.
We are leading a comprehensive multi-waveband monitoring program of 34 gamma-ray bright blazars designed to locate the emission regions of blazars from radio to gamma-ray frequencies. The maps are anchored by sequences of images in both total and polarized intensity obtained with the VLBA at an angular resolution of ~ 0.1 milliarcseconds. The time-variable linear polarization at radio to optical wavelengths and radio to gamma-ray light curves allow us to specify the locations of flares relative to bright stationary features seen in the images and to infer the geometry of the magnetic field in different regions of the jet. Our data reveal that some flares occur simultaneously at different wavebands and others are only seen at some of the frequencies. The flares are often triggered by a superluminal knot passing through the stationary core on the VLBA images. Other flares occur upstream or even parsecs downstream of the core.
We compare the gamma-ray light curves of the blazars, constructed with data provided by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, with flux and polarization variations in the VLBI core and bright superluminal knots obtained via monthly monitoring with the Very Long Baseline Array at 43 GHz. For all blazars in the sample that exhibit a high gamma-ray state on time scales from several weeks to several months, an increase of the total flux in the mm-wave core is contemporaneous with the gamma-ray activity (more than a third of the sample). Here we present the results for quasars with the most extreme gamma-ray behavior (3C 454.3, 3C 273, 3C 279, 1222+216, and 1633+382). The sources show that in addition to the total flux intensity behavior, a maximum in the degree of polarization in the core or bright superluminal knot nearest to the core coincides with the time of a gamma-ray peak to within the accuracy of the sampling of the radio data. These argue in favor of location of many of gamma-ray outbursts in blazars outside of the broad line region, either in the vicinity or downstream of the mm-wave VLBI core.
We perform monthly total and polarized intensity imaging of a sample of $gamma$-ray blazars (33 sources) with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at 43 GHz with the high resolution of 0.1 milliarcseconds. From Summer 2008 to October 2009 several of these blazars triggered Astronomical Telegrams due to a high $gamma$-ray state detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT): AO 0235+164, 3C 273, 3C 279, PKS 1510-089, and 3C 454.3. We have found that 1) $gamma$-ray flares in these blazars occur during an increase of the flux in the 43 GHz VLBI core; 2) strong $gamma$-ray activity, consisting of several flares of various amplitudes and durations (weeks to months), is simultaneous with the propagation of a superluminal knot in the inner jet, as found previously for BL Lac (Marscher et al. 2008); 3) coincidence of a superluminal knot with the 43 GHz core precedes the most intense $gamma$-ray flare by 36$pm$24 days. Our results strongly support the idea that the most dramatic $gamma$-ray outbursts of blazars originate in the vicinity of the mm-wave core of the relativistic jet. These results are preliminary and should be tested by future monitoring with the VLBA and Fermi.
The detection of periodicities in light curves of active galacticnuclei (AGN) could have profound consequences for our understanding of the nature and radiation physics of these objects. At high energies (HE; E>100 MeV) 5 blazars (PG 1553+113,PKS 2155-304, 0426-380, 0537-441, 0301-243) have been reported to show year-like quasi-periodic variations (QPVs) with significance >3 sig. As these findings are based on few cycles only, care needs to be taken to properly account for random variations which can produce intervals of seemingly periodic behaviour. We present results of an updated timing analysis for 6 blazars (adding PKS 0447-439), utilizing suitable methods to evaluate their long term variability properties and to search for QPVs in their light curves. We generate gamma-ray light curves covering almost 10 years, study their timing properties and search for QPVs using the Lomb-Scargle Periodogram and the Wavelet Z-transform. Extended Monte Carlo simulations are used to evaluate the statistical significance. Comparing their probability density functions (PDFs), all sources (except PG 1553+113) exhibit a clear deviation from a Gaussian distribution, but are consistent with being log-normal, suggesting that the underlying variability is of a non-linear, multiplicative nature. Apart from PKS 0301-243 the power spectral density for all investigated blazars is close to flicker noise (PL slope -1). Possible QPVs with a local significance ~ 3 sig. are found in all light curves (apart from PKS 0426-380 and 0537-441), with observed periods between (1.7-2.8) yr. The evidence is strongly reduced, however, if evaluated in terms of a global significance. Our results advise caution as to the significance of reported year-like HE QPVs in blazars. Somewhat surprisingly, the putative, redshift-corrected periods are all clustering around 1.6 yr. We speculate on possible implications for QPV generation.
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