Fermi Blazars Research Articles

Intrinsic γ-ray luminosity, black hole mass, jet and accretion in Fermi blazars

We have analyzed a large sample of clean blazars detected by Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Using literature and calculation, we obtained intrinsic $\gamma$-ray luminosity excluding beaming effect, black hole mass, broad-line luminosity (used as a proxy for disk luminosity), jet kinetic power from "cavity" power and bulk Lorentz factor for parsec-scale radio emission, and studied the distributions of these parameters and relations between them. Our main results are as follows. (i) After excluding beaming effect and redshift effect, intrinsic $\gamma$-ray luminosity with broad line luminosity, black hole mass and Eddington ratio have significant correlations. Our results confirm the physical distinction between BL Lacs and FSRQs. (ii) The correlation between broad line luminosity and jet power is significant which supports that jet power has a close link with accretion. Jet power depends on both the Eddington ratio and black hole mass. We also obtain $LogL_{\rm BLR}\sim(0.98\pm0.07)Log P_{\rm jet}$ for all blazars, which is consistent with the theoretical predicted coefficient. These results support that jets are powered by energy extraction from both accretion and black hole spin (i.e., not by accretion only). (iii) For almost all BL Lacs, $P_{\rm jet}>L_{\rm disk}$; for most of FSRQs, $P_{\rm jet}<L_{\rm disk}$. The "jet-dominance" (parameterized as $\frac{P_{\rm jet}}{L_{\rm disk}}$) is mainly controlled by the bolometric luminosity. Finally, the radiative efficiency of $\gamma$-ray and properties of TeV blazars detected by Fermi LAT were discussed.

Long and short term variability of seven blazars in six near-infrared/optical bands

Context. We present the light curves of six BL Lac objects, PKS 0537-441, PKS 0735+17, OJ 287, PKS 2005-489, PKS 2155-304, W Comae, and of the flat spectrum radio quasar PKS 1510-089, as a part of a photometric monitoring program in the near-infrared/optical bands started in 2004. All sources are Fermi blazars. Aims. Our purpose is to investigate flux and spectral variability on short and long time scales. Systematic monitoring, independent of the activity of the source, guarantees large sample size statistics, and allows an unbiased view of different activity states on weekly or daily time scales for the whole timeframe and on nightly timescales for some epochs. Methods. Data were obtained with the REM telescope located at the ESO premises of La Silla (Chile). Light curves were gathered in the optical/near-infrared VRIJHK bands from April 2005 to June 2012. Results. Variability >= 3 mag is observed in PKS 0537-441, PKS 1510-089 and PKS 2155-304, the largest ranges spanned in the near-infrared. The color intensity plots show rather different morphologies. The spectral energy distributions in general are well fitted by a power law, with some deviations that are more apparent in low states. Some variability episodes during a night interval are well documented for PKS 0537-441 and PKS 2155-304. For the latter source the variability time scale implies a large relativistic beaming factor.

The evolutionary sequence of Fermi blazars

Using γ-ray data (α γ , F γ ) detected by Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and black hole mass which has been compiled from literatures for 116 Fermi blazars, we calculated intrinsic γ-ray luminosity, intrinsic bolometric luminosity, intrinsic Eddington ratio and studied the relationships between all above parameters and redshift, between α γ and L γ . Furthermore, we obtained the histograms of key parameters. Our results are the following: (1) The main reason for the evolutionary sequence of three subclasses (HBLs, LBLs, FSRQs) may be Eddington ratio rather than black hole mass; (2) FSRQs occupy in the earlier, high-luminosity, high Eddington ratio, violent phase of the galactic evolution sequence, while BL Lac objects occur in the low luminosity, low Eddington ratio, late phase of the galactic evolution sequence; (3) These results imply that the evolutionary track of Fermi blazars is FSRQs ⟶ LBLs ⟶ HBLs.

The Correlation between the Gamma-Ray Luminosity and the Core-Dominance Parameters for a Fermi Blazar Sample

AbstractIn this work, we investigated the correlation between the γ-ray luminosity, logLγ and the core-dominance parameter, log (1+R), for a sample of 124 Fermi blazars with available core and extended radio emissions. Our analysis shows that there is no correlation between the γ-ray luminosity, log Lγ and the core-dominance parameter, log (1+R). However, there is a closely linear correlation between log Lγ − log LExt and log (1+R), log Lγ−log LExt = (0.95 ± 0.08) log (1+R) + (2.72 ± 0.11), for the whole sample. The result suggests that the γ-ray emissions are composed of two components, one is beamed, the other is unbeamed.

The De-beamed γ-Ray Emissions in Blazars

AbstractBlazars (BL Lacertae objects and flat spectrum radio quasars) are strong γ-ray emitters, the γ-ray emissions are strongly beamed. In this work, we compiled a sample of Fermi blazars with available beaming factors, δR, to investigate the correlation between the γ-ray flux density, logfγ, and redshift, logz for the whole sample and the subclasses of the present sample. The analysis shows that there is no correlation between logfγ and logz for the observed γ-ray flux density, but there are strong correlations between the de-beamed flux densities, logfγdb and logz for the whole sample and the subclasses. Our results confirm that the γ-ray emissions are strongly beamed and imply that it is possible for one to use the radio beaming factor, δR for the beaming effect discussions in the γ-ray bands for Fermi blazars.

Correlation between X-ray and γ-ray for Fermi blazars

Using γ-ray band data detected by Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and X-ray band data for 78 blazars, we find a medium correlation between X-ray flux and γ-ray flux in all states. A medium correlation is also found between X-ray (1 keV) mean spectral index α x and γ-ray mean spectral index α γ for BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs), and there is no correlation for Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs). From these results, we suggest that the most likely radiation mechanism for the high energy gamma-rays would be synchrotron self-Compton (SSC), and that the gamma-ray emission mechanism may be somewhat different for BL Lacs and FSRQs.

UNVEILING THE NATURE OF UNIDENTIFIED GAMMA-RAY SOURCES. I. A NEW METHOD FOR THE ASSOCIATION OF GAMMA-RAY BLAZARS

We present a new method for identifying blazar candidates by examining the locus, i.e. the region occupied by the Fermi gamma-ray blazars in the three-dimensional color space defined by the WISE infrared colors. This method is a refinement of our previous approach that made use of the two-dimensional projection of the distribution of WISE gamma-ray emitting blazars (the Strip) in the three WISE color-color planes (Massaro et al. 2012a). In this paper, we define the three-dimensional locus by means of a Principal Component (PCs) analysis of the colors distribution of a large sample of blazars composed by all the ROMA-BZCAT sources with counterparts in the WISE All-Sky Catalog and associated to gamma-ray source in the second Fermi LAT catalog (the WISE Fermi Blazars sample, WFB). Our new procedure yields a total completeness of c~81% and total efficiency of e~97%. We also obtain local estimates of the efficiency and completeness as functions of the WISE colors and galactic coordinates of the candidate blazars. The catalog of all WISE candidate blazars associated to the WFB sample is also presented, complemented by archival multi-frequency information for the alternative associations. Finally, we apply the new association procedure to all gamma-ray blazars in the 2FGL and provide a catalog containing all the gamma-ray candidates blazars selected according to our procedure.

The gamma-ray Doppler factor determinations for a Fermi blazar sample

Observations suggest that γ-ray loud blazars are strongly beamed. The Fermi mission has detected many of blazars, which provide us with a good opportunity to investigate the emission mechanism and the beaming effect in the γ-ray region. We compiled the X-ray observations for 138 Fermi blazars (54 flat spectrum radio quasars, 36 low-peaked BL Lacertae objects, and 48 high-peaked BL Lacertae objects) and calculated their Doppler factors, δγ. It is interesting that the calculated Doppler factors, δγ, are strongly correlated with the γ-ray luminosity.

S5 0716+714: GeV variability study

The GeV observations by Fermi-LAT give us the opportunity to characterize the high-energy emission (100MeV–300GeV) variability properties of the BL Lac object S5 0716+714. In this study, we performed flux and spectral analysis of more than 3year long (August 2008 to April 2012) Fermi-LAT data of the source. During this period, the source exhibits two different modes of flux variability with characteristic timescales of ∼75 and ∼140days, respectively. We also notice that the flux variations are characterized by a weak spectral hardening. The GeV spectrum of the source shows a clear deviation from a simple power law, and is better explained by a broken power law. Similar to other bright Fermi blazars, the break energy does not vary with the source flux during the different activity states. We discuss several possible scenarios to explain the observed spectral break.

The spectral properties of Fermi blazars: the spectral sequence and unification of blazars

Using a large sample of blazars of the Fermi observations presented by Abdo et al., we constructed a sample of blazars including high energy peaked BL Lac objects (HBLs), low energy peaked BL Lac objects (LBLs) and flat-spectral radio quasars (FSRQs). These unique characteristics make it possible to unambiguously address the question of how HBLs, LBLs and FSRQs are related. In this paper, we investigated the relationship between X-ray and γ-ray spectral indices (αx−αγ), as well as the relationship between the broadband spectral indices (αro−αrx, αro−αox, αro−αxγ and αrx−αxγ) for this sample. The color-color diagram shows that there is a significant correlation between both quantities when all three subclasses of blazars are considered, which suggests that there is a unified scheme for blazars. On the other hand, the αx−αγ diagram reveals that three kinds of blazars have different spectral energy distributions: the trend of HBLs is different from that of FSRQs and LBLs, whereas FSRQs and LBLs have a similar trend, which hints that FSRQs and LBLs have similar spectral properties, but HBLs have distinct spectral properties. In addition, the broadband energy distributions also reveal the similar spectral properties with that of the αx−αγ diagram. The spectral properties revealed from the Fermi sample do not support the blazar sequence reported by Fossati et al. and Ghisellini et al.

AN OPTICAL-NEAR-INFRARED OUTBURST WITH NO ACCOMPANYING γ-RAYS IN THE BLAZAR PKS 0208–512

We report the discovery of an anomalous flare in a bright blazar, namely, PKS 0208-512, one of the targets of the Yale/SMARTS optical-near-infrared (OIR) monitoring program of Fermi blazars. We identify three intervals during which PKS 0208-512 undergoes outbursts at OIR wavelengths lasting for longer than 3 months. Its brightness increases and then decreases again by at least 1 magnitude in these intervals. In contrast, the source undergoes bright phases in GeV energies lasting for longer than 1 month during intervals 1 and 3 only. The OIR outburst during interval 2 is comparable in brightness and temporal extent to the OIR flares during intervals 1 and 3 which do have gamma-ray counterparts. By analyzing the gamma-ray, OIR, and supporting multi-wavelength variability data in details, we speculate that the OIR outburst during interval 2 was caused by a change in the magnetic field without any change in the total number of emitting electrons or Doppler factor of the emitting region. Alternatively, it is possible that the location of the outburst in the jet during interval 2 was closer to the black hole where the jet is more compact and the bulk Lorentz factor of the material in the jet is smaller. We also discuss the complex OIR spectral behavior during these three intervals.

High-redshift Fermi blazars observed by GROND and Swift

We observed 5 gamma-ray loud blazars at redshift greater than 2 with the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and the UltraViolet and Optical Telescope (UVOT) onboard the Swift satellite, and the Gamma-Ray burst Optical Near-Infrared Detector (GROND) instrument. These observations were quasi simultaneous, usually within a few hours. For 4 of these blazars the near-IR to UV data show the presence of an accretion disc, and we could reliably estimate its accretion rate and black hole mass. One of them, PKS 1348+007, was found in an extraordinarily high IR-optical state, almost two orders of magnitude brighter than at the epoch of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey observations. For all the 5 quasars the physical parameters of the jet emitting zone, derived by applying a one-zone emission model, are similar to that found for the bulk of other gamma-ray loud quasars. With our observations we have X-ray data for the full sample of blazars at z>2 present in the Fermi 2-yrs (2LAC) catalog. This allows to have a rather complete view of the spectral energy distribution of all high-redshift Fermi blazars, and to draw some conclusions about their properties, and especially about the relation between the accretion rate and the jet power.

Blue Fermi flat spectrum radio quasars

Many blazars detected by the Fermi satellite, observed spectroscopically in the optical, are line-less, and have been classified as BL Lac objects. Optical-UV photometry of nearly one hundred of them allowed to determine the redshift for a handful of objects and redshift upper limits for the great majority. A few of these are candidates to be "blue quasars", namely flat spectrum radio quasars whose broad emission lines are hidden by an overwhelming synchrotron emission peaking in the UV. This implies that the emitting electrons have high energies. In turn, this requires relatively weak radiative cooling, a condition that can be met if the main radiative dissipation of the jet power occurs outside the broad line region. We confirm this hypothesis by studying and modelling the spectral energy distributions of the 4 "blue quasars" recently discovered. Furthermore, we discuss the distribution of Fermi blazars in the gamma-ray spectral index -- gamma-ray luminosity plane, and argue that "blue quasars" objects are a minority within the blazar populations.

γ-Ray Doppler Factors for Fermi Blazars

AbstractIn this paper, we compiled the X-ray observations for 138 Fermi blazars and calculated their Doppler factors, δγ. The calculated Doppler factors, δγ, are found strongly correlated with the γ-ray luminosity.

F-GAMMA: On the phenomenological classification of continuum radio spectra variability patterns of Fermi blazars

The F-GAMMA program is a coordinated effort to investigate the physics of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) via multi-frequency monitoring of Fermi blazars. In the current study we show and discuss the evolution of broad-band radio spectra, which are measured at ten frequencies between 2.64 and 142 GHz using the Effelsberg 100-m and the IRAM 30-m telescopes. It is shown that any of the 78 sources studied can be classified in terms of their variability characteristics in merely 5 types of variability. It is argued that these can be attributed to only two classes of variability mechanisms. The first four types are dominated by spectral evolution and can be described by a simple two-component system composed of: (a) a steep quiescent spectral component from a large scale jet and (b) a time evolving flare component following the "Shock-in-Jet" evolutionary path. The fifth type is characterised by an achromatic change of the broad band spectrum, which could be attributed to a different mechanism, likely involving differential Doppler boosting caused by geometrical effects. Here we present the classification, the assumed physical scenario and the results of calculations that have been performed for the spectral evolution of flares.

On the role of black hole spin and accretion in powering relativistic jets in AGN

Motivated by the remarkable results on the general properties of blazars obtained from Fermi observations we discuss the role of spin and accretion in powering relativistic jets in AGNs. We consider studies of the Blandford–Znajek mechanism taking into account advection of magnetic flux from an accretion disk surrounding the Black Hole (BH) which indicate that the mechanism is inhibited for values of the BH spin a ≲ 0.5. However large scale propagation of the jet with highly relativistic bulk acceleration likely requires even larger spin values. The Blandford–Znajek mechanism then predicts a tight connection between jet power and accretion power, accounting for the correlation between γ–ray luminosity and accretion disk luminosity found in the bright Fermi blazar sample. The suggested spin threshold would lead to a grand unification of AGN based on only two intrinsic parameters: the BH spin and the accretion rate in Eddington units.

THE EFFECT OF BLAZAR SPECTRAL BREAKS ON THE BLAZAR CONTRIBUTION TO THE EXTRAGALACTIC GAMMA-RAY BACKGROUND

The spectral shapes of the contributions of different classes of unresolved gamma-ray emitters can provide insight into their relative contributions to the extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGB) and the natures of their spectra at GeV energies. We calculate the spectral shapes of the contributions to the EGB arising from BL Lacertae type objects (BL Lacs) and flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) assuming blazar spectra can be described as broken power laws. We fit the resulting total blazar spectral shape to the Fermi Large Area Telescope measurements of the EGB, finding that the best-fit shape reproduces well the shape of the Fermi EGB for various break scenarios. We conclude that a scenario in which the contribution of blazars is dominant cannot be excluded on spectral grounds alone, even if spectral breaks are shown to be common among Fermi blazars. We also find that while the observation of a featureless (within uncertainties) power-law EGB spectrum by Fermi does not necessarily imply a single class of contributing unresolved sources with featureless individual spectra, such an observation and the collective spectra of the separate contributing populations determine the ratios of their contributions. As such, a comparison with studies including blazar gamma-ray luminosity functions could have profound implications for the blazar contribution to the EGB, blazar evolution, and blazar gamma-ray spectra and emission.

The Correlation between γ-Ray and Radio Emissions for the Fermi Blazars

Based upon the Fermi blazars sample, the radio and γ-ray emissions are compiled for a sample of 74 γ-ray loud blazars to calculate the radio to γ-ray effective spectrum index αR γ. The correlations between αR γ and γ-ray luminosity, and between radio and γ-ray luminosity are also investigated.

Radio Variability of First 3-Month Fermi Blazars at 5 GHz: Affected by Interstellar Scintillation?

Blazars from the first-three-months Fermi-AGN list were observed with the Urumqi 25m radio telescope at 5GHz in IDV (Intra-Day Variability) mode and inter-month observation mode. A significant correlation between the flux density at 5GHz and the gamma-ray intensity for the Fermi-LAT detected blazars is seen. There is a higher IDV detection rate in Fermi detected blazars than those reported for other samples. Stronger variability appears at lower Galactic latitudes; IDV appears to be stronger in weaker sources, indicating that the variability is affected by interstellar scintillation.

Gamma-Ray and Multiwavelength Emission from Blazars

Blazars are now well understood as approaching relativistic jets aligned with the line of sight. The long-time uncertainty about the demographics of blazars is starting to become clearer: since the Fermi blazar sample includes a larger fraction of high-frequency peaked blazars (like the typical X-ray-selected blazars in, say, the Einstein Slew Survey sample) than did the higher-flux-limit EGRET blazar sample, these low-luminosity sources must be more common than their higher luminosity, low-frequency-peaked cousins. Blazar spectral energy distributions have a characteristic two-component form, with synchrotron radiation at radio through optical (UV, X-ray) frequencies and gamma-rays from X-ray through GeV (TeV) energies. Multiwavelength monitoring has suggested that gamma-ray flares can result from acceleration of electrons at shocks in the jet, and there appears to be an association between the creation of outflowing superluminal radio components in VLBI maps and the gamma-ray flares. In many cases, the gamma-ray emission is produced by inverse Compton upscattering of ambient optical-UV photons, although the contribution from energetic hadrons cannot be ruled out. The next few years of coordinated gamma-ray, X-ray, UV, optical, infrared and radio monitoring of blazars will be important for characterizing jet content, structure, and total power.