Fermi Blazars Research Articles

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.

A WISE perspective of the blazar hunt in the γ-ray sky

AbstractThanks to the data of the WISE all-sky survey we discovered that the non-thermal infrared emission of blazars, the largest population of associated γ-ray sources, has peculiar spectral properties. Here we provide a summary of all results achieved on the infrared–γ-ray connection. We also show results on the latest statistical analysis of the tight correlation between the mid-infrared colors and the γ-ray spectral index for Fermi blazars, a connection that links both emitted powers and spectral shapes of particles accelerated in blazar jets over ten decades in frequency of the electromagnetic spectrum. Finally, we outline all developments performed in the last decade achieved using the infrared– γ-ray connection to discover hundreds of new blazars within the sample of unidentified γ-ray sources thanks to optical spectroscopic observations.

Long-term multi-wavelength variations of Fermi blazar 3C 279

Long-term optical, X-ray and γ-ray data of blazar 3C 279 have been compiled from Swift-XRT, RXTE-PCA, Fermi-LAT, SMARTS and literature. The source exhibits strong variability on long timescales. From the 1980s until now, the optical R band light curve spans more than 32 yr, and a possible 5.6-yr-long quasi-periodic variation component has been found in it. The optical spectral behavior has been investigated. In the optical band, the mean spectral index is –1.71. The source exhibits an obvious special spectral behavior. In the low state, the source manifests a clear bluer-when-brighter behavior in the sense that the optical spectrum turns harder (flatter) when the brightness increases. While in the high state, the optical spectrum is stable, which means the source spectral index does not vary with brightness. The correlation analysis has been performed among optical, X-ray and γ-ray energy bands. The result indicates that the variations of γ-ray and X-ray bands are well correlated without time delay on the timescale of days, and their variations exhibit weak correlations with those of the optical band. The variations, especially outbursts, are simultaneous, but the magnitude of variations is disproportionate. The detailed analysis reveals that the main outbursts exhibit strong correlations in different γ-ray, X-ray and optical bands.

The Powers of Relativistic Jets Depend on the Spin of Accreting Supermassive Black Holes

Abstract Theoretical models show that the power of relativistic jets of active galactic nuclei depends on the spin and mass of the central supermassive black holes, as well as the accretion. Here we report an analysis of archival observations of a sample of blazars. We find a significant correlation between jet kinetic power and the spin of supermassive black holes. At the same time, we use multiple linear regression to analyze the relationship between jet kinetic power and accretion, spin, and black hole mass. We find that the spin of supermassive black holes and accretion are the most important contributions to the jet kinetic power. The contribution rates of both the spin of supermassive black holes and accretion are more than 95%. These results suggest that the spin energy of supermassive black holes powers the relativistic jets. The jet production efficiency of almost all Fermi blazars can be explained by moderately thin, magnetically arrested accretion disks around rapidly spinning black holes.

The Central Engines of Fermi Blazars

Abstract We present a catalog of central engine properties, i.e., black hole mass (M BH) and accretion luminosity (L disk), for a sample of 1077 blazars detected with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. This includes broad emission-line systems and blazars whose optical spectra lack emission lines but are dominated by the absorption features arising from the host galaxy. The average M BH for the sample is , and there is evidence suggesting the association of more massive black holes with absorption-line systems. Our results indicate a bimodality of L disk in Eddington units (L disk/L Edd) with broad-line objects tend to have a higher accretion rate (L disk/L Edd > 0.01). We have found that L disk/L Edd and Compton dominance (CD; the ratio of the inverse Compton to synchrotron peak luminosities) are positively correlated at the >5σ confidence level, suggesting that the latter can be used to reveal the state of accretion in blazars. Based on this result, we propose a CD-based classification scheme. Sources with CD > 1 can be classified as high-Compton-dominated or HCD blazars, whereas those with CD ≲ 1 are low-Compton-dominated (LCD) objects. This scheme is analogous to that based on the mass accretion rate proposed in the literature; however, it overcomes the limitation imposed by the difficulty in measuring L disk and M BH for objects with quasi-featureless spectra. We conclude that the overall physical properties of Fermi blazars are likely to be controlled by the accretion rate in Eddington units. The catalog is made public at http://www.ucm.es/blazars/engines and Zenodo.

On the origin of GeV spectral break for Fermi blazars: 3C 454.3

ABSTRACT The GeV break in spectra of the blazar 3C 454.3 is a special observation feature that has been discovered by the Fermi-LAT. The origin of the GeV break in the spectra is still under debate. In order to explore the possible source of GeV spectral break in 3C 454.3, a one-zone homogeneous leptonic jet model and the McFit technique are utilized for fitting the quasi-simultaneous multiwaveband spectral energy distribution (SED) of 3C 454.3. The outside border of the broad-line region (BLR) and inner dust torus are chosen to contribute radiation in the model as external, seed photons to the external-Compton process, considering the observed γ-ray radiation. The combination of two components, namely the Compton-scattered BLR and dust torus radiation, assuming a broken power-law distribution of emitted particles, provides a proper fitting to the multiwaveband SED of 3C 454.3 detected 2008 August 3–September 2 and explains the GeV spectral break. We propose that the spectral break of 3C 454.3 may originate from an inherent break in the energy distribution of the emitted particles and the Klein–Nishina effect. A comparison is performed between the energy density of the ‘external’ photon field for the whole BLR UBLR achieved via model fitting and that constrained from the BLR data. The distance from the position of the γ-ray radiation area of 3C 454.3 to the central black hole could be constrained at ∼0.78 pc (∼4.00RBLR, the size of the BLR).

From the Fermi Blazar Sequence to the Relation between Fermi Blazars and γ-Ray Narrow-line Seyfert 1 Galaxies

Abstract We use the third catalog of blazars detected by Fermi/LAT (3LAC) and γ-ray narrow-line Seyfert 1 Galaxies (γ-NLSy1s) to study the blazar sequence and relationship between them. Our results are as follows. (i) There is a weak anticorrelation between synchrotron peak frequency and peak luminosity for both Fermi blazars and γ-NLSy1s, which supports the blazar sequence. However, after Doppler correction, the inverse correlation disappeared, which suggests that anticorrelation between synchrotron peak frequency and peak luminosity is affected by the beaming effect. (ii) There is a significant anticorrelation between jet kinetic power and synchrotron peak frequency for both Fermi blazars and γ-NLSy1s, which suggests that the γ-NLSy1s could fit well into the original blazar sequence. (iii) According to previous work, the relationship between synchrotron peak frequency and synchrotron curvature can be explained by statistical or stochastic acceleration mechanisms. There are significant correlations between synchrotron peak frequency and synchrotron curvature for whole sample, Fermi blazars and BL Lac objects, respectively. The slopes of the correlation are consistent with statistical acceleration. For FSRQs, LBLs, IBLs, HBLs, and γ-NLS1s, we also find a significant correlation, but in these cases the slopes cannot be explained by previous theoretical models. (iv) The slope of the relation between synchrotron peak frequency and synchrotron curvature in γ-NLS1s is larger than that of FSRQs and BL Lac objects. This result may imply that the cooling dominates over the acceleration process for FSRQs and BL Lac objects, while γ-NLS1s is the opposite.

The Correlations between Radio and [formula omitted]-ray Emissions in Multibands for Fermi Blazars

A sample including 935 blazars with 415 Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs) and 520 BL Lac objects (BL Lacs) (233 HBLs (High synchrotron peak frequency BL Lacs), 144 IBLs (Intermediate synchrotron peak frequency BL Lacs), and 143 LBLs (Low synchrotron peak frequency BL Lacs)) is selected in Fermi 3FGL catalogue. The correlations between two flux densities of the radio 1.4GHz and γ-ray at 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, and 10GeV are investigated for the samples of all blazars, FSRQs, BL Lacs, and subclasses of HBLs and LBLs, respectively. Results show that there are strong positive correlations between the two flux densities, with the correlation coefficients r = 0.48∼0.81, and the chance probabilities p all less than 10−4. The correlation coefficient has different trends with the change of γ-ray emission frequency for different blazar samples, and the average correlation coefficients for all the samples at five respective bands decrease with the increase of γ-ray frequency. Therefore, with the increase of γ-ray frequency, the dominant mechanism of γ-ray radiation of blazar is changing, and at the same frequency the dominant mechanism is different for different samples. The γ-ray emission of HBLs may be mainly dominated by the synchrotron self-Compton, while the other mechanisms are responsible for the γ-ray emissions of LBLs. The origin of γ-ray in FSRQs is more complex than that of BL Lacs.

Long-term optical and infrared variability characteristics of Fermi blazars

ABSTRACT We present long-term optical and near-infrared flux variability analysis of 37 blazars detected in the γ-ray band by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. Among them, 30 are flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and 7 are BL Lac objects (BL Lacs). The photometric data in the optical (BVR) and infrared (JK) bands were from the Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System acquired between 2008–2018. From cross-correlation analysis of the light curves at different wavelengths, we did not find significant time delays between variations at different wavelengths, except for three sources, namely PKS 1144–379, PKS B1424–418, and 3C 273. For the blazars with both B- and J-band data, we found that in a majority of FSRQs and BL Lacs, the amplitude of variability (σm) in the J band is larger than that in B band, consistent with the dominance of the non-thermal jet over the thermal accretion disc component. Considering FSRQs and BL Lacs as a sample, there are indications of σm to increase gradually towards longer wavelengths in both, however, found to be statistically significant only between B and J bands in FSRQs. In the B−J v/s J-colour magnitude diagram, we noticed complicated spectral variability patterns. Most of the objects showed a redder when brighter (RWB) behaviour. Few objects showed a bluer when brighter (BWB) trend, while in some objects both BWB and RWB behaviours were noticed. These results on flux and colour characteristics indicate that the jet emission of FSRQs and BL Lacs is indistinguishable.

Doppler Factor Estimation for Fermi Blazars

Abstract In this work, we exploit the luminosity of the broad-line region (BLR) for 50 Fermi blazars through matching the coordinates between the Sloan Digital Sky Survey catalog, Fermi Large Area Telescope Third Source Catalog, and the Fermi Large Area Telescope Fourth Source Catalog and fitting their emission lines. In total, we collected a sample of 350 blazars with broad-line emissions including 50 new objects and 300 blazars from published works to revisit the correlation between the γ-ray luminosity and the broad-line luminosity, and proposed a new method to estimate the Doppler factors based on the correlation between the radiative power of the jet and luminosity of the BLR. We come to following conclusions. (1) For the 50 Fermi blazars, their broad-line luminosity (log L BLR) ranges from 41.82–45.2 erg s−1 with a mean value of 44.39 erg s−1. (2) The Doppler factor (δ) ranges from δ = 0.35 to δ = 85.66 with a mean value of 12.54, which is consistent with the results in the literature. (3) There are positive correlations between γ-ray luminosity and broad-line luminosity, and between γ-ray luminosity and the Doppler factor.

The γ-ray sky seen at X-ray energies

Context. Nearly 50% of all sources detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope are classified as blazars or blazar candidates, one of the most elusive classes of active galaxies. Additional blazars can also be hidden within the sample of unidentified or unassociated γ-ray sources (UGSs) that constitute about one-third of all gamma-ray sources detected to date. We recently confirmed that the large majority of Fermi blazars of the BL Lac subclass have an X-ray counterpart. Aims. Using the X-ray properties of a BL Lac training set and combining these with archival multifrequency information, we aim to search for UGSs that could have a BL Lac source within their γ-ray positional uncertainty regions. Methods. We reduced and analyzed the Swift X-ray observations of a selected sample of 327 UGSs. We then compared the X-ray fluxes and hardness ratios of all sources detected in the pointed fields with those of known Fermi BL Lacs. Results. We find at least one X-ray source, lying within the γ-ray positional uncertainty at 95% confidence level, for 223 UGSs and a total of 464 X-ray sources in all fields analyzed. The X-ray properties of a large fraction of them, eventually combined with radio, infrared, and optical information, exhibit BL Lac multi-frequency behavior, thus allowing us to select high-confidence BL Lac candidates; some of them were recently observed during our optical spectroscopic campaign which confirmed their nature. Conclusions. We find that out of 50 X-ray sources that were confirmed as BL Lacs through optical spectroscopy, 12 do not show canonical mid-infrared or radio BL Lac properties. This indicates that the selection of X-ray BL Lac candidates is a strong method to find new counterparts within Fermi UGSs. Finally, we pinpoint a sample of 32 Swift/XRT candidate counterparts to Fermi UGSs that are most likely BL Lac objects.

The Relations of Multi-waveband Effective Spectral Indices for Fermi Blazars

In this paper, the flux densities at the radio (R) 1.4GHz, optical (O) 4.68 × 1014Hz, X-ray (X) 1keV, and γ-ray (γ) 1GeV are obtained from the available literature for a Fermi blazar sample. The 6 effective spectral indices (αRO, αRX, αRγ, αOX, αOγ, and αXγ) between any two of above bands are calculated. The correlations between any two spectral indices are investigated for the whole blazar sample and the subclass samples of FSRQs (Flat Spectral Radio Quasars) and BL Lacs including High synchrotron peak frequency BL Lacs (HBLs) and Low synchrotron peak frequency BL Lacs (LBLs). Results show that: (1) There are close correlations between any two spectral indices for all samples, except for the sample of HBLs and the correlation between αOX and αRγ. This kind of correlations can be explained by the structures of energy spectral distributions at four bands. (2) In the scatter plots of effective spectral index correlations, FSRQs and LBLs are distributed in the same area, but HBLs and FSRQs (LBLs) are distributed in the different areas. (3) The separation degree (discrimination) between the distributions of FSRQs (LBLs) and HBLs differs with the scatter plot of effective spectral index correlations, and the discrimination is related to the frequencies to determine two effective spectral indices.

Radio core dominance of Fermi/LAT-detected AGNs

We present a sample of 4388 AGNs with available radio core-dominance parameters—defined as the ratio of the core flux densities to the extended ones, R = Score/Sext.—which includes 630 Fermi-detected AGNs from the fourth source catalog (4FGL) of the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi/LAT); the rest are non-Fermi-detected AGNs. In our sample, 584 blazars are Fermi-detected and 1310 are not. The sample also contains other subclasses, such as Seyferts, Fanaroff-Riley I/II galaxies, and normal galaxies. We investigate various properties of the Fermi-detected and non-Fermi-detected AGNs by using core-dominance parameters, capitalizing on a previous study which showed that R is a good indicator of beaming. We then calculate radio spectral indices for the whole sample, and adopt γ-ray-photon indices for the Fermi AGNs from the 4FGL catalog to discuss the properties of different subclasses. We obtain a relation between the core-dominance parameters and the radio spectral indices for both Fermi and non-Fermi sources, assuming a two-component model in the radio band. Our previous study ruled out the assumption that the core-dominance parameters and radio spectral indices are quite different for different AGN subclasses. This holds not only for Fermi sources but also for non-Fermi sources. In particular, R is, on average, greater for the former AGNs than for the latter. In this study, we enlarge our sample with available values of R to 4388 AGNs, and the obtained conclusions are consistent with our previous study. We assume that the same two-component model holds for the γ-ray band as for the radio band, and therefore, adopt the same relation between the core-dominance parameters and the γ-ray-photon indices for Fermi AGNs. Our fitting results indicate that the γ-ray emissions of Fermi blazars originate mainly from the jet, and therefore, we conclude that the Fermi blazars are beamed.

Spectral Properties of Fermi Blazars and their Unification Schemes

Abstract We use the distributions of spectral indices (α v ) of a large homogenous sample of Fermi-detected blazars to re-investigate the relationship between flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and subclasses of BL Lac objects (BL Lacs). We compute the broadband synchrotron and Compton spectral indices from radio-to-X-ray and X-ray to y-ray bands, respectively. Analyses of our data show continuity in the distributions of the spectral indices from FSRQs to HSP through LSP and ISP subclasses of BL Lacs. We find from y-ray luminosity distribution that the jetted radio galaxies form the low-luminosity tail of the distribution, which is suggestive that the sequence can be extended to the young jetted galaxy populations. We observe a significant difference in the shape of Compton and synchrotron spectra: significant anti-correlation (r ∼−0.80) exists between the broadband Compton and synchrotron spectral indices. Furthermore, the broadband spectral indices vary significantly with redshift (z) at low redshift (z < 0.3) and remain fairly constant at high (z ≥ 0.3) redshift. The trend of the variations suggests a form of evolutionary connection between subclasses of blazars. Thus, while selection effect may be significant at low redshift, evolutionary sequence can also be important. Our results are not only consistent with a unified scheme for blazars and their young jetted galaxy counterparts but also suggest that the broadband spectral sequence of blazars is not a secondary effect of redshift dependence.

Evaluating the Classification of Fermi BCUs from the 4FGL Catalog Using Machine Learning

Abstract The recently published fourth Fermi Large Area Telescope source catalog (4FGL) reports 5065 gamma-ray sources in terms of direct observational gamma-ray properties. Among the sources, the largest population is the active galactic nuclei (AGNs), which consists of 3137 blazars, 42 radio galaxies, and 28 other AGNs. The blazar sample comprises 694 flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs), 1131 BL Lac- type objects (BL Lacs), and 1312 blazar candidates of an unknown type (BCUs). The classification of blazars is difficult using optical spectroscopy given the limited knowledge with respect to their intrinsic properties, and the limited availability of astronomical observations. To overcome these challenges, machine-learning algorithms are being investigated as alternative approaches. Using the 4FGL catalog, a sample of 3137 Fermi blazars with 23 parameters is systematically selected. Three established supervised machine-learning algorithms (random forests (RFs), support vector machines (SVMs), artificial neural networks (ANNs)) are employed to general predictive models to classify the BCUs. We analyze the results for all of the different combinations of parameters. Interestingly, a previously reported trend the use of more parameters leading to higher accuracy is not found. Considering the least number of parameters used, combinations of eight, 12 or 10 parameters in the SVM, ANN, or RF generated models achieve the highest accuracy (Accuracy ≃91.8%, or ≃92.9%). Using the combined classification results from the optimal combinations of parameters, 724 BL Lac type candidates and 332 FSRQ type candidates are predicted; however, 256 remain without a clear prediction.

Physical inference from the γ-ray, X-ray, and optical time variability of a large sample of Fermi blazars

ABSTRACT We present cross-correlation studies of γ-ray (0.1–300 GeV), X-ray (0.2–10 keV), and optical (R band) variability of a sample of 26 blazars during 2008–2016. The light curves are from Fermi-LAT, Swift-XRT, and the Yale-SMARTS blazar monitoring program. We stack the discrete cross-correlation functions of the blazars such that the features that are consistently present in a large fraction of the sample become more prominent in the final result. We repeat the same analysis for two subgroups, namely, low synchrotron peaked (LSP) and high synchrotron peaked (HSP) blazars. We find that, on average, the variability at multiple bands is correlated, with a time lag consistent with zero in both subgroups. We describe this correlation with a leptonic model of non-thermal emission from blazar jets. By comparing the model results with those from the actual data, we find that the inter-band cross-correlations are consistent with an emission region of size 0.1 pc within the broad-line region for LSP blazars. We rule out large changes of magnetic field (>0.5 Gauss) across the emission region or small values of magnetic field (e.g., 0.2 Gauss) for this population. We also find that the observed variability of the HSP blazars can be explained if the emission region is much larger than the distance to the broad-line region from the central black hole.

Cosmological test using the high-redshift detection rate of FSRQs with the Square Kilometre Array

We present a phenomenological method for predicting the number of Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs) that should be detected by upcoming Square Kilometer Array (SKA) SKA1-MID Wide Band 1 and Medium-Deep band 2 surveys. We use the Fermi Blazar Sequence and mass estimates of Fermi FSRQs, and gamma-ray emitting Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies, to model the radio emission of FSRQs as a function of mass alone, assuming a near-Eddington accretion rate, which is suggested by current quasar surveys at z > 6. This is used to determine the smallest visible black hole mass as a function of redshift in two competing cosmologies we compare in this paper: the standard LCDM model and the R_h=ct universe. We then apply lockstep growth to the observed black-hole mass function at $z=6$ in order to devolve that population to higher redshifts and determine the number of FSRQs detectable by the SKA surveys as a function of z. We find that at the redshifts for which this method is most valid, LCDM predicts ~30 times more FSRQs than R_h=ct for the Wide survey, and ~100 times more in the Medium-Deep survey. These stark differences will allow the SKA surveys to strongly differentiate between these two models, possibly rejecting one in comparison with the other at a high level of confidence.

Spectral Energy Distribution for Some Fermi Blazarstwo

The observational data from radio to X-ray wavebands were collected from the SSDC (Italian Space Agency Science Data Center) for 68 Fermi blazars, and their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) were calculated by means of the least square fitting with a log-parabolic function. Based on the SED fitting parameters, the correlations of the synchrotron peak frequency, curvature and effective spectral index were discussed, and an empirical formula was also proposed to estimate the synchrotron peak frequencies by using the effective spectral indexes. The main results are as follows: (1) From the linear correlation between the synchrotron peak frequency (lgνp) and the curvature (k), we find that the result supports the energy-dependent acceleration probability model for all BL Lac objects, while the result for the BL Lac objects of lgνp>15.3 is consistent with the model of fluctuation of fractional acceleration gain. (2) For the sources of nearly same lgνp, a significant correlation between the effective spectral index αro of the radio-optical waveband and the curvature is detected, while the effective spectral index αox of the optical-x-ray waveband is not correlated with the curvature. According to the effective spectral index αro, a relation between the synchrotron peak frequency and the curvature can be defined.

Evaluating the Optical Classification of Fermi BCUs Using Machine Learning

Abstract In the third catalog of active galactic nuclei detected by the Fermi-LAT (3LAC) Clean Sample, there are 402 blazar candidates of uncertain type (BCUs). Due to the limitations of astronomical observation or intrinsic properties, it is difficult to classify blazars using optical spectroscopy. The potential classification of BCUs using machine-learning algorithms is essential. Based on the 3LAC Clean Sample, we collect 1420 Fermi blazars with eight parameters of γ-ray photon spectral index; radio flux; flux density; curve significance; the integral photon flux in 100–300 MeV, 0.3–1 GeV, and 10–100 GeV; and variability index. Here we apply four different supervised machine-learning (SML) algorithms (decision trees, random forests, support vector machines, and Mclust Gaussian finite mixture models) to evaluate the classification of BCUs based on the direct observational properties. All four methods can perform exceedingly well with more accuracy and can effectively forecast the classification of Fermi BCUs. The evaluating results show that the results of these methods (SML) are valid and robust, where about one-fourth of sources are flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and three-fourths are BL Lacertae (BL Lacs) in 400 BCUs, which are consistent with some other recent results. Although a number of factors influence the accuracy of SML, the results are stable at a fixed ratio 1:3 between FSRQs and BL Lacs, which suggests that the SML can provide an effective method to evaluate the potential classification of BCUs. Among the four methods, Mclust Gaussian Mixture Modeling has the highest accuracy for our training sample (4/5, seed = 123).

Searches for IceCube neutrinos from blazar flares using correlations with gamma-ray lightcurves

Blazars have long been considered as accelerator candidates for cosmic rays. In such a scenario, hadronic interactions in the jet would produce neutrinos and gamma rays. Correlating the astrophysical neutrinos detected by IceCube with the gamma-ray emission from blazars could therefore help elucidate the origin of cosmic rays. In our method we focus on periods where blazars show an enhanced gamma-ray flux, as measured by Fermi-LAT, thereby reducing the background of the search. We present results for TXS 0506+056, using nearly 10 years of IceCube data and discuss them in the context of other recent analyses on this source. In addition, we give an outlook on applying this method in a stacked search for the combined emission from a selection of variable Fermi blazars.