Related papers: Gamma-ray Clues to the Relativistic Jet Dichotomy
(Abridged) We have conducted a detailed investigation of the broad-band spectral properties of the \gamma-ray selected blazars of the Fermi LAT Bright AGN Sample (LBAS). By combining our accurately estimated Fermi gamma-ray spectra with…
We have considered all blazars observed in the X-ray band and for which the slope of the X-ray spectrum is available. We have collected 421 spectra of 268 blazars, including 12 archival unpublished ASCA spectra of 7 blazars whose analysisis…
We present a theoretical analysis of the expected X-ray and gamma-ray polarization signatures resulting from synchrotron self-Compton emission in leptonic models, compared to the polarization signatures from proton synchrotron and cascade…
The synchrotron reflection scenario recently proposed to explain $\gamma$-ray flares observed from blazar jets is studied. Our analysis takes into account the angular distribution of the beamed radiation, the finite extent of the scattering…
We use the distributions of spectral indices 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…
We present preliminary results of our work on blazar unification. We assume that all blazars have a broad line region (BLR) and that the size of the BLR scales with the power of the source in a manner similar to that derived through…
Thanks to Hubble and Chandra telescopes, some of the large scale jets in extragalactic radio sources are now being observed at optical and X-ray frequencies. For the FR I objects the synchrotron nature of this emission is surely…
The spectra of blazars form a sequence which can be parametrized in term of their observed bolometric luminosity. At the most powerful extreme of the sequence we find objects whose jet power can rival the power extracted by accretion, while…
The origin of high-energy emission in blazars jets (i.e., leptonic versus hadronic) has been a long-standing matter of debate. Here, we focus on one variant of hadronic models where proton synchrotron radiation accounts for the observed…
Low-frequency radio surveys allow in-depth studies and new analyses of classes of sources previously known and characterised only in other bands. In recent years, low radio frequency observations of blazars have been available thanks to new…
The observations of gamma-ray emission from pulsars with the Fermi-LAT detector and the detection of the Crab pulsar with the VERITAS array of Cherenkov telescopes at energies above 100 GeV make it unlikely that curvature radiation is the…
Locating the gamma-ray emission sites in blazar jets is a long-standing and highly controversial issue. We investigate jointly several constraints on the distance scale r and Lorentz factor Gamma of the gamma-ray emitting regions in…
Blazars, a subset of powerful active galactic nuclei, feature relativistic jets that shine in a broadband electromagnetic radiation, e. g. from radio to TeV emission. Here I present the results of the studies that explore gamma-ray and…
PKS 1510-089 is one of the most variable blazars. Very high energy gamma ray emission from this source was observed by H.E.S.S. during March-April 2009 and by MAGIC from February 3 to April 3, 2012 quasi-simultaneously with multi-wavelength…
AIMS: Our goal is to understand the nature of blazars and the mechanisms for the generation of high-energy gamma-rays, through the investigation of the prototypical blazar PKS 2155-304, which shows complex behaviour. METHODS: We analyze…
The flat spectrum radio quasar PKS 1510-089 is one of the most active blazars in $\gamma$-rays, exhibiting phases of very high activity. This study investigates its variability over a decade across a wide range of wavelengths, from radio to…
PKS 0537-441, a bright gamma-ray emitting blazar, was observed at radio, optical, UV and X-ray frequencies during various EGRET pointings, often quasi-simultaneously. In 1995 the object was found in an intense emission state at all…
Blazars are highly variable active galactic nuclei which emit radiation at all wavelengths from radio to gamma-rays. Polarized radiation from blazars is one key piece of evidence for synchrotron radiation at low energies and it also varies…
The convex (concave upward) high-energy X-ray spectra of the blazar PKS\,2155-304, observed by \emph{XMM-Newton}, is interpreted as the signature of sub-dominant inverse Compton emission. The spectra can be well fitted by a superposition of…
Compton scattering of external radiation by nonthermal particles in outflowing blazar jets is dominated by accretion-disk photons rather than scattered radiation to distances $\sim 0.01-0.1$ pc from the central engine for standard…