Doppler Factor Research Articles

Explaining the Multiwavelength Emission of γ-ray Bright Flat-Spectrum Radio Quasar 3C 454.3 in Different Activity States

The origin of gamma-ray flares of blazars is still an open issue in jet physics. In this work, we reproduce the multiwavelength spectral energy distribution (SED) of flat-spectrum radio quasars 3C 454.3 under a one-zone leptonic scenario, investigate the variation of the physical parameters in different activity states, and analyze the possible origin of its γ-ray outburst. Based on the analysis of multiwavelength quasi-simultaneous observations of 3C 454.3 during MJD 55,400–56,000, we consider that the radiation includes synchrotron (Syn), synchrotron self-Compton (SSC), and external Compton (EC) radiations by the simulation, and the seed photons of the external Compton component mainly comes from the broad-line region and dusty molecular torus. The model results show that: (1) We can well reproduce the multiwavelength quasi-simultaneity SED of 3C 454.3 in various activity states by using a one-zone Syn+SSC+EC model. (2) By comparing the physical model parameters of the bright and the quiescent states, we suggest that this γ-ray flaring activity is more likely to be caused by the increase in the doppler factor.

Radio Jet Proper-motion Analysis of Nine Distant Quasars above Redshift 3.5

Up to now, jet kinematic studies of radio quasars have barely reached beyond the redshift range z > 3.5. This significantly limits our knowledge of high-redshift jets, which can provide key information for understanding the jet nature and the growth of black holes in the early universe. In this paper, we selected nine radio-loud quasars at z > 3.5 which display milliarcsecond-scale jet morphology. We provided evidence of the source nature by presenting high-resolution very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) images of the sample at 8.4 GHz frequency and making spectral index maps. We also consider Gaia optical positions that are available for seven out of the nine quasars for better identification of the jet components within the radio structures. We find that six sources can be classified as core–jet blazars. The remaining three objects are more likely young jetted radio sources, compact symmetric objects. By including multiepoch archival VLBI data, we also obtained jet component proper motions of the sample and estimated the jet kinematic and geometric parameters (Doppler factor, Lorentz factor, and viewing angle). Our results show that at z > 3.5, the jet’s apparent transverse speeds do not exceed 20 times the speed of light (c). This is consistent with earlier high-redshift quasar measurements in the literature and the tendency derived from low-redshift blazars that fast jet speeds (>40c) only occur at low redshifts. The results from this paper contribute to the understanding of the cosmological evolution of radio active galactic nuclei.

Classification and Jet Power of Fermi Blazars

In this work, we compile a sample of 449 Fermi blazars with the luminosity of the broadline region, the black hole mass, the beam radio luminosity, and the jet power; obtain the beam power and the black hole spin; investigate the dividing line between BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs) and flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) to identify the discrepancies in their dominant mechanisms; and revisit the dependence of the jet power on the disk accretion luminosity, the black hole mass, and the black hole spin. We come to the following conclusions. (1) A boundary of log (L BLR/L Edd) = −3.14, separating the BL Lacs and the FSRQs, is obtained from the Bayesian analysis, which is consistent with the results from the literature. We employ the boundary to divide the blazar candidates of uncertain types into candidates for BL Lacs or FSRQs, and we find five changing-look blazars at the same time. (2) A strong correlation is found between black hole mass and intrinsic γ-ray luminosity, but a weaker correlation is found between black hole mass and observed γ-ray luminosity. The latter is weakened by jet effects: it is apparently weak for BL Lacs that have disordered amplification of the Doppler factor, since their mechanism is dominated by jets, while it is moderate for FSRQs, since their mechanism is dominated by accretion processes. (3) The jets of both FSRQs and BL Lacs are likely governed by the Blandford–Znajek mechanism.

Broadband spectro-temporal study on blazar TXS 1700+685

ABSTRACT We attempt to present a multiwavelength variability and correlation study as well as detailed multiwaveband spectral characteristics of the May 2021 gamma-ray flare of the blazar source TXS 1700+685. The multiwavelength observation from Fermi-LAT, Swift-XRT/UVOT as well as radio archival data are used for our spectro-temporal investigation. We estimate the variability time-scale of the source from the flux doubling time in different flaring region detected in Fermi-LAT observation and the shortest variability time is used to put a constraint on the minimum Doppler factor and on the size of the emission region. We have detected a statistically significant quasi-periodic oscillation feature at ∼17 d. The broad-band emission is satisfactorily represented during its flaring state with a leptonic synchrotron and inverse Compton component. From the broad-band spectral modelling, we observe the external Comptonization of the seed photons originating in the broad-line region to be dominant compared to the dusty torus. The equipartition value implies the energy density of the magnetic field in the jet comoving frame is weak. In order to produce the high-energy hump, we need the injection of a large population of high-energy electrons and/or the presence of strong magnetic field; and we observe the later component to be subdominant in our case. The gamma-ray spectral energy distribution shows the flat rising and steep falling profile, as well as the break or spectral curvature at ∼1 GeV, which has been seen for other flat-spectrum radio quasar sources before.

Numerical simulation of sound scattering by a convected vortex

The sound scattering by a convected isentropic vortex is numerically studied by solving the linearized Euler equations (LEE) with high-fidelity finite-difference methods and non-reflecting boundary conditions. Our computations are in good agreement with previous studies. Simulations for the scattering from a Taylor vortex at a range of convected velocity reveal that the convection of the vortex leads to the spectral broadening of the incident waves. The power spectral density analyses of the scattered pressure in the frequency domain show that the range of the spectral broadening is strongly influenced by convected velocity. This fact can be explained by the relative motion between the vortex and observer associated with the Doppler factor. The sidebands originating from the scattered fields at a fixed point in the frequency domain can be associated with the scattered beams observed in the case of scattering by a steady vortex.

Exploring γ-Ray Flares in the Long-term Light Curves of CTA 102 at GeV Energies

Blazar CTA 102 experienced an intense multiwavelength activity phase from 2015 to 2018; in particular, an unprecedented outburst was observed from 2016 October to 2017 February. In this work, we extract a 7 day binned γ-ray light curve from 2008 August to 2018 March in the energy range 0.1–300 GeV and identify three main outbursts. We study in detail the short-timescale variability of these three outbursts via an exponential function with parameterized rise and decay timescales. The obtained shortest rise and decay timescales are 0.70 ± 0.05 hr and 0.79 ± 0.27 hr, respectively. Based on these variability timescales, the physical parameters of the flaring region (e.g., the minimum Doppler factor and the emission region size) are constrained. The short-timescale flares exhibit a symmetric temporal profile within the error bars, implying that the rise and decay timescales are dominated by the light-crossing timescale or by disturbances caused by dense plasma blobs passing through the standing shock front in the jet region. We also find that the best-fitting form of the γ-ray spectra during the flare period is a power law with an exponential cutoff. The derived jet parameters from the spectral behavior and the temporal characteristics of the individual flares suggest that the γ-ray emission region is located upstream of the radio core. The extreme γ-ray flare of CTA 102 is likely to have been caused by magnetic reconnection.

Kinematics of Parsec-scale Jets of Gamma-Ray Blazars at 43 GHz during 10 yr of the VLBA-BU-BLAZAR Program

We analyze the parsec-scale jet kinematics from 2007 June to 2018 December of a sample of γ-ray bright blazars monitored roughly monthly with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at 43 GHz under the VLBA-BU-BLAZAR program. We implement a novel piecewise linear fitting method to derive the kinematics of 521 distinct emission knots from a total of 3705 total intensity images in 22 quasars, 13 BL Lacertae objects, and 3 radio galaxies. Apparent speeds of these components range from 0.01c to 78c, and 18.6% of knots (other than the “core”) are quasi-stationary. One-fifth of moving knots exhibit nonballistic motion, with acceleration along the jet within 5 pc of the core (projected) and deceleration farther out. These accelerations occur mainly at locations coincident with quasi-stationary features. We calculate the physical parameters of 273 knots with statistically significant motion, including their Doppler factors, Lorentz factors, and viewing angles. We determine the typical values of these parameters for each jet and the average for each subclass of active galactic nuclei. We investigate the variability of the position angle of each jet over the 10 yr of monitoring. The fluctuations in position of the quasi-stationary components in radio galaxies tend to be parallel to the jet, while no directional preference is seen in the components of quasars and BL Lacertae objects. We find a connection between γ-ray states of blazars and their parsec-scale jet properties, with blazars with brighter 43 GHz cores typically reaching higher γ-ray maxima during flares.

Doppler estimation based on linear interpolation for underwater acoustic communication

AbstractIn this article, we develop a Doppler estimation approach based on linear interpolation for underwater acoustic (UWA) OFDM system. Linear interpolation is used to achieve the resampling of the received signal. By interpolating the sampled signal with different compensation factors at the receiving end, the repeating structure of the CP‐OFDM symbol is used to maximize the correlation value at the fixed window to obtain the estimated value of the Doppler factor. The fixed window is determined based on the length of the cyclic prefix and the maximum path delay. In addition, we deduced the expression of the received discrete sequence to perform correlation operations after interpolation, which is the theoretical basis of our proposed algorithm. Moreover, in order to reduce the number of iterations, which means computational complexity in this algorithm, we recommend using the dichotomy to quickly find the maximum correlation value. Simulation proves that the proposed algorithm perform better than other CP‐OFDM‐based time‐domain autocorrelation algorithms.

A Possible 3 yr Quasi-periodic Oscillation in γ-Ray Emission from the FSRQ S5 1044+71

Variability is a typical observation feature of Fermi blazars, which sometimes shows quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO). In this work, we obtain 5 day binned light curves (with a time coverage of ∼12.9 yr) for S5 1044+71, based on Fermi-LAT data; apply five different methods—Date-compensated Discrete Fourier Transform, Jurkevich, Lomb–Scargle Periodogram, a Fortran 90 program, and the Weighted Wavelet Z-transform—to the γ-ray light curve; and find a possible QPO of 3.06 ± 0.43 yr at the significance level of ∼3.6σ. A binary black hole model, including an accretion model and a dual-jet model, is used to explain this quasi-periodic variability. We also estimate the Doppler factors and the apparent velocity for the two jet components. We speculate that this γ-ray quasi-periodic modulation suggests the presence of a binary supermassive black hole in S5 1044+71.

Long-term Multiband Optical Variability of Blazar S5 0716+714

Abstract Multiband optical photometry data of blazar S5 0716+714 obtained from 2002 to 2019 reveal stable color index change with flux variability. We analyzed this trend under variability caused by the Doppler factor change in the presence of a curved photon energy spectrum. A break in the energy spectrum of emitting electrons, caused by radiative losses, or log-parabolic electron energy distribution, or the synchrotron self-absorption acting in a compact jet part forms such the photon spectrum. We explained the observed color index change with variability by geometric effects only under the assumption that the radiating region is the synchrotron self-absorbed core and the bright optically thin jet. In this framework, we estimated the magnetic field strength in the optically thick part of the radiating region. These values correspond to other independent estimates of the magnetic field near the black hole, further supporting our assumption.

Robust or nonrobust: On MC-DS-CDMA acquisition in LEO satellite communications

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications can provide global coverage in the sixth generation communication (6G) networks. To combat the strong Partial Band Interferences (PBIs) and multipath fading in LEO satellite communication systems, the Multicarrier Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (MC-DS-CDMA) technique is a promising alternative to the traditional Single-carrier Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (SC-DS-CDMA) system for its advantages of high bandwidth efficiency, superior interference rejection capability, and low complexity of parallel signal processing. However, limited studies have been conducted on the performance analysis of MC-DS-CDMA acquisition systems in the presence of a large Doppler shift, a unique characteristic of LEO satellite communications. To bridge this gap, we investigate the performance of MC-DS-CDMA systems with two-dimensional acquisition and noncoherent equal gain combining over Rician fading channel in the presence of the Doppler shift and PBIs. The performance metrics are detection probability and Mean Square Error (MSE) of the Doppler factor and delay. Specifically, we derive the closed-form expressions for the MSE and the Probability Density Function (PDF) of the acquisition decision variable and obtain the detection probability. We conduct extensive numerical experiments to verify the theoretical analysis and performance gain of MC-DS-CDMA over the SC-DS-CDMA. The results show that MC-DS-CDMA with two-dimensional acquisition is more robust to multipath Rician fading than SC-DS-CDMA. Moreover, MC-DS-CDMA outperforms SC-DS-CDMA regarding the detection probability and MSE when combating the strong PBIs.

Beaming Effect in Fermi Blazars

Abstract Blazars show extreme observational properties that are due to the beaming effect with the jet being close to the line of sight. It was found that the observed luminosity is anticorrelated with the synchrotron peak frequency but the debeamed luminosity and the frequency is positively correlated. In this work, we revisit this correlation for a large sample of 255 blazars from the fourth Fermi catalog with available Doppler factors. Our analysis comes to the following conclusions. (1) The observed radio, X-ray, γ-ray, and synchrotron peak luminosity are all anticorrelated with the peak frequency, but the debeamed luminosity is positively correlated with the debeamed peak frequency. The anticorrelation is due to a selection effect or a beaming effect. (2) The Compton dominance parameter is correlated with both the bolometric luminosity and Doppler factor, implying that the more highly Compton-dominated sources are more luminous. (3) The bolometric luminosity can be represented by the γ-ray luminosity for Fermi blazars.

Frame Boundary Detection and Deep Learning-Based Doppler Shift Estimation for FBMC/OQAM Communication System in Underwater Acoustic Channels

Underwater acoustic (UWA) communication is the only option for underwater long-distance wireless communication. However, its data rate is very low, in tens of kbps, and the time-varying nature of the UWA channel exhibits a Doppler effect. The data rate can be increased using a multicarrier technique, such as Filter Bank Multicarrier (FBMC). The FBMC-OQAM system does not require a cyclic prefix (CP) to eliminate intersymbol interference (ISI). Therefore, compared to other multicarrier techniques, the FBMC-OQAM system achieves the maximum spectral efficiency. Despite the well-designed filter, synchronisation errors cause performance degradation in the FBMC-OQAM system. In this paper, we propose frame boundary and Doppler frequency estimation methods for the FBMC-OQAM system under UWA channels. In this study, we propose a preamble-based frame boundary. The conjugate symmetry property is used in the frame boundary estimation. The performance of the proposed technique was studied under different UWA channels with different Doppler scale. The proposed time synchronisation technique yielded multiple peaks under UWA channels. A method for identifying the peak that represents the frame boundary is proposed. We compared the performance of proposed timing metric with existing three reference timing metrics. The proposed timing metric exhibited superior over two metrics and almost identical performance with the Liming’s metric with less computational complexity. In addition, we propose a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based Doppler scale estimation method. The proposed technique was shown to estimate a wide range of Doppler scale factors. The performance of the proposed technique was studied by considering different UWA channels at different SNRs. The proposed CNN architecture is analysed by changing the CNN parameters. Stacked autoencoders were adopted for Doppler scale estimation and the performance of the proposed CNN-based Doppler scale estimation method was compared with the stacked autoencoders based Doppler scale estimation method. Simulation results show that the proposed CNN-based Doppler Scale estimator exhibits good performance in UWA channels at different SNRs and Doppler scale factors.

The Estimation of Fundamental Physics Parameters for Fermi-LAT Blazars

Abstract Aiming to delineate the physical framework of blazars, we present an effective method to estimate four important parameters based on the idea proposed by Becker & Kafatos, including the upper limit of central black hole mass M, the Doppler factor δ, the distance along the axis to the site of the γ-ray production d (which then can be transformed into the location of γ-ray-emitting region R γ ) and the propagation angle with respect to the axis of the accretion disk Φ. To do so, we adopt an identical sample with 809 Fermi-LAT-detected blazars which had been compiled in Pei et al. These four derived parameters stepping onto the stage may shed new light on our knowledge regarding γ-ray blazars. With regard to the paper of Becker & Kafatos, we obtain several new perspectives, mainly in (1) putting forward an updated demarcation between BL Lacs and FSRQs based on the relation between broad-line region luminosity and disk luminosity both measured in Eddington units, i.e., L disk/L Edd = 4.68 × 10−3, indicating that there are some differences between BL Lacs and FSRQs on the accretion power in the disk; (2) proposing that there is a so-called “appareling zone,” a potential transition field between BL Lacs and FSRQs where the changing-look blazars perhaps reside; (3) the location of γ-ray emission region is principally constrained outside the broad-line region, and for some BL Lacs are also away from the dusty molecular torus, which means the importance of emission components in the jet.

Variability and Spectral Characteristics of Three Flaring Gamma-Ray Quasars Observed by VERITAS and Fermi-LAT

Abstract Flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) are the most luminous blazars at GeV energies but only rarely emit detectable fluxes of TeV gamma rays, typically during bright GeV flares. We explore the gamma-ray variability and spectral characteristics of three FSRQs that have been observed at GeV and TeV energies by Fermi-LAT and VERITAS, making use of almost 100 hr of VERITAS observations spread over 10 yr: 3C 279, PKS 1222+216, and Ton 599. We explain the GeV flux distributions of the sources in terms of a model derived from a stochastic differential equation describing fluctuations in the magnetic field in the accretion disk and estimate the timescales of magnetic flux accumulation and stochastic instabilities in their accretion disks. We identify distinct flares using a procedure based on Bayesian blocks and analyze their daily and subdaily variability and gamma-ray energy spectra. Using observations from VERITAS, as well as Fermi, Swift, and the Steward Observatory, we model the broadband spectral energy distributions of PKS 1222+216 and Ton 599 during very high energy (VHE)–detected flares in 2014 and 2017, respectively, strongly constraining the jet Doppler factors and gamma-ray emission region locations during these events. Finally, we place theoretical constraints on the potential production of PeV-scale neutrinos during these VHE flares.

The Relativistic Jet and Central Engine of Fermi Blazars

Abstract The origin of jets is one of the most important issues concerning active galactic nuclei, yet it has remained obscure. In this work, we made use of information from emission lines, spectral energy distributions, and Fermi–LAT γ-ray emission to construct a blazar sample that contains 667 sources. We note that jet power originations are different for BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs) and flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs). The correlation between jet power P jet and the normalized disk luminosity L Disk/L Edd shows a slope of −1.77 for BL Lacs and a slope of 1.16 for FSRQs. The results seem to suggest that BL Lac jets are powered by extracting black hole (BH) rotation energy, while FSRQ jets are mostly powered by accretion disks. Meanwhile, we find the accretion ratio M ̇ / M ̇ Edd increases with the normalized γ-ray luminosity. Based on this, we propose a dividing line, log ( L BLR / L Edd ) = 0.25 log ( L γ / L Edd ) − 2.23 , to separate FSRQs and BL Lacs in the diagram of L BLR/L Edd against L γ /L Edd using a machine-learning method; the method gives an accuracy of 84.5%. In addition, we propose an empirical formula, M BH / M ☉ ≃ L γ 0.65 / 21.46 , to estimate BH mass based on a strong correlation between γ-ray luminosity and BH mass. Strong γ-ray emission is typical in blazars, and the emission is always boosted by a Doppler-beaming effect. In this work, we generate a new method to estimate a lower limit of Doppler factor δ and give δ BL Lac = 7.94 and δ FSRQ = 11.55.

MOJAVE. XIX. Brightness Temperatures and Intrinsic Properties of Blazar Jets

Abstract We present multiepoch, parsec-scale core brightness temperature observations of 447 active galactic nucleus (AGN) jets from the MOJAVE and 2 cm Survey programs at 15 GHz from 1994 to 2019. The brightness temperature of each jet over time is characterized by its median value and variability. We find that the range of median brightness temperatures for AGN jets in our sample is much larger than the variations within individual jets, consistent with Doppler boosting being the primary difference between the brightness temperatures of jets in their median state. We combine the observed median brightness temperatures with apparent jet speed measurements to find the typical intrinsic Gaussian brightness temperature of 4.1( ± 0.6) × 1010 K, suggesting that jet cores are at or below equipartition between particle and magnetic field energy in their median state. We use this value to derive estimates for the Doppler factor for every source in our sample. For the 309 jets with both apparent speed and brightness temperature data, we estimate their Lorentz factors and viewing angles to the line of sight. Within the BL Lac optical class, we find that high-synchrotron-peaked BL Lacs have smaller Doppler factors, lower Lorentz factors, and larger angles to the line of sight than intermediate and low-synchrotron-peaked BL Lacs. We confirm that AGN jets with larger Doppler factors measured in their parsec-scale radio cores are more likely to be detected in γ rays, and we find a strong correlation between γ-ray luminosity and Doppler factor for the detected sources.

Variability of the Blazar 1156+295 in 2005–2020

We present and analyze the monitoring results of the blazar 1156+295 in radio, optical, and gamma ranges in 2005–2020. After a long period of relative quietness at the end of 2017, a sharp increase in activity occurred in all spectral ranges, from radio to gamma. The connection between events that took place in different ranges has been studied. Photometric variability in the optical-infrared region is explained by the presence of a variable component with a constant on average power-law relative energy distribution in the spectrum (Fν ~ ν–1.4). Separate sources of polarized radiation with a relatively high degree of polarization are identified. The synchrotron nature of the components responsible for the activity is beyond doubt. During VLBI observations, four components moving at superluminal speeds were found; a connection has been established between the instants of their appearance and events in all spectral ranges. It is noted that the difference in the values of the spectral indices for different time intervals does not allow to explain the variability of the flux by geometric factors only (by the change in the Doppler factor due to the change in the angle between the line of sight and the subluminal motion direction of the emitting ensemble of electrons). For different time intervals, the energy distributions of electrons in ensembles should be different.

On the Origin of Gamma-Ray Flares from Bright Fermi Blazars

Abstract The origin of γ-ray flares observed from blazars is one of the major mysteries in jet physics. We have attempted to address this problem following a novel spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting technique that explored the flaring patterns identified in the broadband SEDs of two γ-ray bright blazars, 3C 279 (z = 0.54) and 3C 454.3 (z = 0.86), using near-simultaneous radio-to-γ-ray observations. For both sources, the γ-ray flux strongly correlates with the separation of the SED peaks and the Compton dominance. We propose that spectral hardening of the radiating electron population and/or enhancement of the Doppler factor can naturally explain these observations. In both cases, magnetic reconnection may play a pivotal role in powering the luminous γ-ray flares.

Identifying changing jets through their radio variability

Context. Supermassive black holes can launch highly relativistic jets with velocities reaching Lorentz factors of as high as Γ > 50. How the jets accelerate to such high velocities and where along the jet they reach terminal velocity are open questions that are tightly linked to their structure as well as their launching and dissipation mechanisms. Aims. Changes in the beaming factor along the jets could potentially reveal jet acceleration, deceleration, or bending. We aim to (1) quantify the relativistic effects in multiple radio frequencies and (2) study possible jet velocity–viewing angle variations at parsec scales. Methods. We used the state-of-the-art code Magnetron to model light curves from the University of Michigan Radio Observatory and the Metsähovi Radio Observatory’s monitoring programs in five frequencies covering about 25 years of observations in the 4.8 to 37 GHz range for 61 sources. We supplement our data set with high-frequency radio observations in the 100–340 GHz range from ALMA, CARMA, and SMA. For each frequency we estimate the Doppler factor which we use to quantify possible changes in the relativistic effects along the jets. Results. The majority of our sources do not show any statistically significant difference in their Doppler factor across frequencies. This is consistent with constant velocity in a conical jet structure, as expected at parsec scales. However, our analysis reveals 17 sources where relativistic beaming changes as a function of frequency. In the majority of cases, the Doppler factor increases towards lower frequencies. Only 1253–053 shows the opposite behavior. By exploring their jet properties we find that the jet of 0420–014 is likely bent across the 4.8–340 GHz range. For 0212+735, the jet is likely parabolic, and still accelerating in the 4.8–37 GHz range. We discuss possible interpretations for the trends found in the remaining sources.