Related papers: Compton Dominance and the Blazar Sequence
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…
Multiwavelength observations of blazars such as Mrk 421 and Mrk 501 show that they exhibit strong short time variabilities in flare-like phenomena. Based on the homogeneous synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model and assuming that time…
The origin of the high-energy component in spectral energy distributions (SED) of blazars is still a bit of a mystery. While BL Lac objects can be rather successfully modelled within the one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) scenario, the…
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 We have collected 421 spectra of 268 blazars, including 12 archival unpublished ASCA spectra of 7 blazars whose analysisis…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 the X-ray analysis of the largest flux-limited complete sample of blazar candidates at z>4 selected from the Cosmic Lens All Sky Survey (CLASS). After obtaining a nearly complete (24/25) X-ray coverage of the sample (from…
Blazars are characterized by relativistic jets that are closely aligned with our line of sight. This results in relativistic beaming, making blazars among the most luminous extragalactic sources across the electromagnetic spectrum, from…
Blazars host the most powerful persistent relativistic conical jet -- a highly collimated anisotropic flow of material/plasma. Motivated by this, we explore the blazar's broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) in an anisotropic flow of…
The non-thermal spectra of blazars, observed from radio to GeV/TeV gamma-rays, reveal two pronounced components, both produced by radiation by energetic particles. One peaks in the IR - to soft X-ray band, radiating via the synchrotron…
The extreme variability of blazars, in both timescale and amplitude, is generally explained as the effect of a relativistic jet closely aligned to the observer's line-of-sight. Due to causality arguments, variability characteristics…
We present simultaneous optical and X-ray data from Swift for a sample of FSRQs selected from the EMSS survey. We present also a complete analysis of Swift and INTEGRAL data on 4 blazars recently discussed as possibly challenging the trends…
At energies ~>2 keV, active galactic nuclei (AGN) are the source of the cosmic X-ray background (CXB). For AGN population synthesis models to replicate the peak region of the CXB (~30 keV), a highly obscured and therefore nearly invisible…
Blazars are classified into high, intermediate and low energy peaked sources based on the location of their synchrotron peak. This lies in infra-red/optical to ultra-violet bands for low and intermediate peaked blazars. The transition from…
(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…
The "blazar sequence" posits that the most powerful BL Lacertae objects and flat-spectrum radio quasars should have relatively small synchrotron peak frequencies, nu_peak, and that the least powerful such objects should have the highest…
A widely discussed explanation for the origin of the X-ray emission observed from knots in extended quasar jets with the Chandra X-ray Obseratory is Compton-scattered CMBR by electrons with Lorentz factors $\gamma^\prime \sim 10^2$. This…
Blazars are characterized by rapid variability at virtually all wavelengths from radio through TeV gamma-rays. The challenge since their discovery has been to understand the origin of their luminous, apparently nonthermal, nuclear emission.…
We summarize the results of BeppoSAX ToO observation of blazars that were known to be in a high state from observations carried out in the optical or X-ray or TeV bands.In some of the observed sources, two spectral components were detected,…
A time-dependent Synchrotron Self Compton model (SSC) which is able to motivate the used electron spectra of many SSC models as a balance of acceleration and radiative losses is introduced. Using stochastic acceleration as well as Fermi-I…
I discuss the spectral energy distribution (SED) of all blazars with redshift detected by the {\it Fermi} satellite and listed in the 3LAC catalog. I will update the so called "blazar sequence" from the phenomenological point of view, with…
Blazars constitute the most enigmatic class of extragalactic gamma-ray sources, and their observational features have been ascribed to a relativistic jet closely aligned to the line of sight. They are generally divided in two main classes:…