Related papers: Blazars: recent developments
We revisit the so called "blazar sequence", which connects the observed bolometric luminosity to the shape of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of blazars. We propose that the power of the jet and the SED of its emission are linked to…
A brief overview of jets and their central drivers is presented, with a focus on accreting black hole systems. In particular, scaling relations that elucidate some basic properties of the engines are derived, and the implications for the…
Gamma-ray bursts with long durations are widely thought to arise from the collapse of massive stars, where the wind environment is unavoidable. It is also believed that $\gamma$-ray bursts come from jets. Considering these two points in…
We observed with the NuSTAR satellite 3 blazars at z>2, detected in gamma-rays by Fermi/LAT and in the soft X-rays, but not yet observed above 10 keV. The flux and slope of their X-ray continuum, together with Fermi/LAT data allows us to…
Most models for blazars and gamma-ray bursts involve relativistic plasma outflows powered by accretion processes onto black holes. The blast wave physics developed for cosmological models of GRBs is reviewed. Two points relevant for blazar…
Blazars are sources whose jet is pointing to us. Since their jets are relativistic, the flux is greatly amplified in the direction of motion, making blazars the most powerful persistent objects in the Universe. This is true at all…
We have recently proposed a simplified scenario for blazars in which these sources are classified as flat-spectrum radio quasars or BL Lacs according to the prescriptions of unified schemes, and to a varying combination of Doppler boosted…
High redshift blazars are among the most powerful non-explosive sources in the Universe and play a crucial role in understanding the evolution of relativistic jets. To understand these bright objects, we performed a detailed investigation…
Blazars are characterized by large amplitude and fast variability, indicating that the electron distribution is rapidly changing, often on time scales shorter than the light crossing time. We study the time dependent behavior of the…
Blazars are jetted active galactic nuclei with a jet pointing close to the line of sight, hence enhancing their intrinsic luminosity and variability. Monitoring these sources is essential in order to catch them flaring and promptly organize…
At high redshift, extragalactic jets are associated with extended emission line regions. We present global and local hydrodynamic simulations of the interaction of jets with their environment relevant to this phenomenon. We determine the…
Broad band spectra of total and compact--scale radio emission from blazars, used in combination with kinematic information inferred from VLBI monitoring programs, can be applied successfully to better constrain the models of compact jets.…
The author is developing a numerical code with thousands of emission zones to simulate the time-dependent multi-waveband emission from blazars. The code is based on a model in which turbulent plasma flowing at a relativistic speed down a…
We present an in-depth and systematic variability study of a sample of 20 powerful blazars, including 12 BL Lacs and 8 flat spectrum radio quasars, applying various analysis tools such as flux distribution, symmetry analysis, and time…
The extragalactic high-energy $\gamma$-ray sky is dominated by blazars, which are active galactic nuclei with their jets pointing towards us. Distance measurements are of fundamental importance yet for some of these sources are challenging…
An increasing number of blazars have been reported to show jet wobbling (i.e., non-regular rotations of the structural position angle of their innermost jets in the plane of the sky with amplitudes between 20 deg. and 50 deg., and time…
Various aspects of the high-energy emission from relativistic jets associated wi th compact astrophysical systems are reviewed. The main leptonic and hadronic processes responsible for the production of high-energy $\gamma$-rays, very-high…
Let's take stock of the situation on one of the most studied astrophysical phenomena during the latest years: the jets escaping from protostars, stellar singularities, GRB and active galactic nuclei.
We present a classification of energy flow variables for highly collimated jets. Observables are constructed by taking moments of the energy flow and forming scalars of a suitable Lorentz subgroup. The jet shapes are naturally arranged in…
Relativistic outflows, or `Jets', represent one of the most obvious, important and yet poorly-explained phenomena associated with accreting relativistic objects, including X-ray binaries. In the past decade we have observed highly…