Active Galactic Nuclei: The TeV Challenge
Abstract
Jets associated with Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) have been observed for almost a century, initially at optical and radio wavelengths. They are now widely accepted as "exhausts" produced electromagnetically by the central, spinning, massive black hole and its orbiting, accreting gas. Observations at X-ray and, especially, gamma-ray energies have transformed our understanding of how these jets evolve dynamically, accelerate electrons (and positrons) and radiate throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Some new approaches to modeling the powerful and rapidly variable TeV emission observed from many blazars are sketched. Observations at the highest TeV energies, to which the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma-Ray Observatory (HAWC) will contribute, promise crucial discrimination between rival models of AGN jets.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1511.07515,
title = {Active Galactic Nuclei: The TeV Challenge},
author = {R. Blandford and W. East and K. Nalewajko and Y. Yuan and J. Zrake},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1511.07515},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
Invited talk at the HAWC inauguration conference, Puebla, Mexico, March 19, 2015. To appear in Pubs. Academia Mexicana de Ciencias, Eds. Alberto Carrami\~nana, Daniel Rosa, Stefan Westerhoff and Omar Tibolla