Invisible Plasma Content in Blazars? The Case of Markarian 421
Astrophysics
2008-02-05 v1
Abstract
Invisible plasma content in blazar jets such as protons and/or thermal electron-positron () pairs is explored through combined arguments of dynamical and radiative processes. By comparing physical quantities required by the internal shock model with those obtained through the observed radio-to-gamma-ray spectra for Mrk 421, we find the existence of a copious amount of invisible plasma in the jet. We speculate that the blazar sequence could arise from variations of total amount and/or blending ratio of pair and electron-proton plasma.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0802.0335,
title = {Invisible Plasma Content in Blazars? The Case of Markarian 421},
author = {M. Kino and F. Takahara},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0802.0335},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
4 pages, 2 figure for the proceedings of 'Approaching Micro-Arcsecond Resolution with VSOP-2: Astrophysics and Technology' (3-7 December 2007, ISAS/JAXA, Sagamihara, Japan)