Related papers: Magnetic Field Amplification and Blazar Flares
The blazar 3C 279 is well known for its rapid and large-amplitude variability. On 20 December 2013, the source exhibited an orphan {\gamma}-ray flare characterized by a flux-doubling timescale of a few hours, a very hard spectrum, a…
The magnetic field in an accretion disk is estimated assuming that all of the angular momentum within prescribed accretion disk radii is removed by a jet. The magnetic field estimated at the base of the jet is extrapolated to the blazar…
High-energy blazar light curves, in X-rays and beyond, have historically preferred a log-normal flux distribution, signifying multiplicative processes either in the jet itself or due to connection(s) with accretion. Here we present 18 year…
We model light curves of flares observed in blazars, assuming that they are produced by relativistic electrons/positrons injected by forward-reverse shocks traveling down the jet with relativistic speeds. We approximate the radiating region…
Here we report systematic comparison of the spectral properties of large-scale jets, hotspots and extended lobes in quasars and FR II radio galaxies recently observed with Chandra and ASCA. We argue that if the strong X-ray emission of the…
A time-dependent emission model for blazar jets, taking acceleration due to Fermi-I and Fermi-II processes for electrons and protons as well as all relevant radiative processes self-consistently into account, is presented. The presence of…
We extend a method for modeling synchrotron and synchrotron self-Compton radiations in blazar jets to include external Compton processes. The basic model assumption is that the blazar radio through soft X-ray flux is nonthermal synchrotron…
Even with several thousand {\it Fermi}-LAT blazar detections, the $\gamma$-ray emission mechanism is poorly understood. We explore correlated optical/$\gamma$-ray flux variations for 178 {\it Fermi}-LAT blazars regularly monitored by KAIT,…
Several models have been suggested to explain the fast gamma-ray variability observed in blazars, but its origin is still debated. One scenario is magnetic reconnection, a process that can efficiently convert magnetic energy to energy of…
We model the acceleration of electrons at a shock front in a relativistic blazar jet and compute the radiation they emit in a post-shock region which contains a homogeneous magnetic field. The full space, time and momentum dependence of the…
Blazar subclasses ranging from flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) through low-frequency-peaked BL Lac objects (LBLs) to high-frequency-peaked BL Lac objects (HBLs) exhibit a sequence of increasing spectral hardness with decreasing…
We have been using the 0.76-m Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) at Lick Observatory to optically monitor a sample of 157 blazars that are bright in gamma rays, being detected with high significance ($\ge 10\sigma$) in one year by…
We investigate the spectral and timing signatures of the internal-shock model for blazars. For this purpose, we develop a semi-analytical model for the time-dependent radiative output from internal shocks arising from colliding relativistic…
We present a model of the spectra of gamma-ray emitting blazars in which a single homogeneous emission region both emits synchrotron photons directly and scatters them to high (gamma-ray) energy before emission (a ``synchrotron…
Strong X-ray and $\gamma$--ray flares have been detected in February 2010 from the high synchrotron peaked blazar Mrk 421 (z=0.031). With the motivation of understanding the physics involved in this flaring activity, we study the…
The jets of blazars are renowned for their multi-wavelength flares and rapid extreme variability; however, there are still some important unanswered questions about the physical processes responsible for these spectral and temporal changes…
We report on temporal and spectral study of a flat spectrum radio quasar, PKS B1222+216, in flare state to get insight into acceleration and emission mechanisms inside the jet. This is one of the brightest and highly active blazar in the…
Using the relativistic MHD code MPI-AMRVAC and a radiative transfer code in post-processing, we explore the influence of the magnetic-field configuration and transverse stratification of an over-pressured jet on its morphology, on the…
The Fermi-LAT survey provides a large sample of blazars selected on the strength of their inverse Compton emission. We cross-correlate the first Fermi-LAT catalogue with the CRATES radio catalogue and use this sample to investigate whether…
The launching mechanism of the jets of active galactic nuclei is observationally poorly constrained, due to the large distances to these objects and the very small scales (sub-parsec) involved. In order to better constrain theoretical…