Related papers: Limits from rapid TeV variability of Mrk 421
When a black hole accretes plasmas at very low accretion rate, an advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) is formed. In an ADAF, relativistic electrons emit soft gamma-rays via Bremsstrahlung. Some MeV photons collide with each other to…
The detection of diffuse radio emission associated with clusters of galaxies indicates populations of relativistic leptons infusing the intracluster medium. Those electrons and positrons are either injected into and accelerated directly in…
Extrapolating from a sample of 39 AGNs, we examine the impact on the total number of high energy muon-neutrino induced events (PeV-EeV) expected in IceCube (a 1Km^3 ``neutrino telescope''), due to variations in different parameters involved…
We propose a new model for the description of ultra-short flares from TeV blazars by compact magnetized condensations (blobs), produced when red giant stars cross the jet close to the central black hole. Our study includes a simple…
Long TeV $\gamma$-ray campaigns have been carried out to study the spectrum, variability and duty cycle of the BL Lac object Markarian 421. These campaigns have given some evidence of the presence of protons in the jet: i) Its spectral…
We present recent results of the TELAMON program, which is using the Effelsberg 100-m telescope to monitor the radio spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN) under scrutiny in astroparticle physics, namely TeV blazars and neutrino-associated…
Very-high-energy $\gamma$-ray observations of the active galaxy IC 310 with the MAGIC telescopes have revealed fast variability with doubling time scales of less than 4.8min. This implies that the emission region in IC 310 is smaller than…
Axion-like particles (ALPs) can oscillate to photons and vice versa in electromagnetic fields. The photon-ALP oscillation provides an attractive solution to the apparent transparency of the Universe to TeV photons. The allowed parameter…
We have undertaken near-continuous monitoring of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469 in the X-ray with RXTE over a ~30d baseline. The source shows strong variability with a root-mean-square (rms) amplitude of ~16 per cent, and peak-to-peak…
The extremes of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) variability offer valuable new insights into the drivers and physics of AGN. We discuss some of the most extreme cases of AGN variability; the highest amplitudes, deep minima states, extreme…
We investigate, independently of specific emission models, the constraints on the value of the bulk Lorentz factor Gamma of a fireball. We assume that the burst emission comes from internal shocks in a region transparent to Thomson…
We examine 288 GRBs detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope's Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) that fell within the field-of-view of Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) during the first 2.5 years of observations, which showed no…
Within the internal shock scenario we consider different mechanisms of high energy ($>1$ MeV) photon production inside a Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) fireball and derive the expected high energy photon spectra from individual GRBs during the…
Rapid variability of the TeV emission in several blazars implies a central black hole mass $M_{BH}<10^8M_\odot$, appreciably smaller than the values estimated from the $M_{BH}-L_{bulg}$ relation, and Doppler factors for the $\gamma$-ray…
The TeV-emitting BL Lac object Mkn 421 was observed with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) at three closely-spaced epochs one-month apart in March-April 1998. The source was also monitored at very-high gamma-ray energies (TeV…
Blazars, a subclass of active galactic nuclei (AGN), are known to be bright $\gamma$-ray sources, frequently exhibiting active (flaring) periods. The blazar PKS~2155-304 is a high synchrotron-peaked BL Lac object located at redshift…
Fermi Gamma ray Space Telescope measurements of spectra, variability time scale, and maximum photon energy give lower limits to the apparent jet powers and, through gammagamma opacity arguments, the bulk Lorentz factors of relativistic…
Although the giant radiogalaxy M 87 harbors many distinct regions of broad-band nonthermal emission, the recently reported fast variability of TeV gamma rays from M 87 on a timescale of days strongly constrains the range of speculations…
We discuss the effect of hypothetical violation of Lorentz invariance at high energies on the formation of atmospheric showers by very-high-energy gamma rays. In the scenario where Lorentz invariance violation leads to a decrease of the…
We report the discovery of an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) in the nearby SAd galaxy NGC 3621 using Spitzer high spectral resolution observations. These observations reveal the presence of [NeV] 14 um and 24 um emission which is centrally…