The beaming effect and γ-ray emission for Fermi blazars

We study the γ-ray luminosity and beaming effect for Fermi blazars.Our results are as follows.(i) There are significant correlations between γ-ray luminosity and radio core luminosity,and between γ-ray luminosity and R_v,which suggests that the γ-ray emissions have a strong beaming effect,(ⅱ) Using the L_(ext)/M_(abs) as an indicator of environment effects,we find that there is no significant correlation betweenγ-ray luminosity and L_(ext)/M_(abs) for all sources when we remove the effect of redshift.Flat spectrum radio quasars considered alone also do not show a significant correlation,but BL Lacertae objects(BL Lacs) still show a significant correlation when we remove the effect of redshift.These results suggest that the γ-ray emission may be affected by the environment on a kiloparsec scale for BL Lacs.     

On the intrinsic shape of the gamma-ray spectrum for Fermi blazars

The curvature of the γ-ray spectrum in blazars may reflect the intrinsic distribution of emitting electrons, which will further give some information on the possible acceleration and cooling processes in the emitting region. The γ-ray spectra of Fermi blazars are normally fitted either by a single power-law(PL) or a log-normal(call Logarithmic Parabola, LP) form. The possible reason for this difference is not clear. We statistically explore this issue based on the different observational properties of 1419 Fermi blazars in the 3 LAC Clean Sample. We find that the γ-ray flux(100 Me V–100 Ge V) and variability index follow bimodal distributions for PL and LP blazars, where the γ-ray flux and variability index show a positive correlation. However, the distributions of γ-ray luminosity and redshift follow a unimodal distribution. Our results suggest that the bimodal distribution of γ-ray fluxes for LP and PL blazars may not be intrinsic and all blazars may have an intrinsically curved γ-ray spectrum, and the PL spectrum is just caused by the fitting effect due to less photons.     

The Correlation between Gamma-ray and Radio Emissions in γ-ray Loud Blazars

We collect 119 v-ray-loud blazars (97 flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and 22 BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs)), and investigate possible correlations between their γ-ray emission (maximum, minimum and average values) at 1 GeV and the radio emission at 8.4 GHz. Our main results are as follows. For the lower state γ-ray data, there is no correlation between the γ-ray and radio flux density; For the high state γ-ray data, there are good correlations for the whole 119 blazars and 97 FSRQs, and a weak correlation for the 22 BL Lac objects; For the average γ-ray data, there are good correlations. According to our analysis, we propose that the γ-rays are associated with the radio emission from the jet, and that the γ-ray emission is likely from the SSC process in this case.     

The intrinsic γ-ray emissions of Fermi blazars

The beaming effect is important for understanding the observational properties of blazars.In this work, we collect 91 Fermi blazars with available radio Doppler factors. γ-ray Doppler factors are estimated and compared with radio Doppler factors for some sources. The intrinsic(de-beamed)γ-ray flux density(f_γ~(in)), intrinsic γ-ray luminosity(L_γ~(in)) and intrinsic synchrotron peak frequency(V_P~(in))are calculated. Then we study the correlations between finγand redshift and find that they follow the theoretical relation: log f =-2.0 log z + const. When the subclasses are considered, we find that stationary jets are perhaps dominant in low synchrotron peaked blazars. Sixty-three Fermi blazars with both available short variability time scales(?T) and Doppler factors are also collected. We find that the intrinsic relationship between L_γ~(in) and ?Tinobeys the Elliot Shapiro and Abramowicz Nobili relations. Strong positive correlation between f_γ~(in)and V_P~(in)is found, suggesting that synchrotron emissions are highly correlated with γ-ray emissions.     

The core dominance parameter and Fermi detection of extragalactic radio sources

By cross-correlating an archive sample of 542 extragalactic radio sources with the Fermi-LAT Third Source Catalog(3FGL), we have compiled a sample of 80 γ-ray sources and 462 non-Fermi sources with available core dominance parameter(RCD), and core and extended radio luminosity; all the parameters are directly measured or derived from available data in the literature. We found that RCD has significant correlations with radio core luminosity, γ-ray luminosity and γ-ray flux; the Fermi sources have on average higher RCD than non-Fermi sources. These results indicate that the Fermi sources should be more compact,and the beaming effect should play a crucial role in the detection of γ-ray emission. Moreover, our results also show Fermi sources have systematically larger radio flux than non-Fermi sources at fixed RCD, indicating larger intrinsic radio flux in Fermi sources. These results show a strong connection between radio andγ-ray flux for the present sample and indicate that the non-Fermi sources are likely due to the low beaming effect, and/or the low intrinsic γ-ray flux. This supports a scenario that has been published in the literature:a co-spatial origin of the activity for the radio and γ-ray emission, suggesting that the origin of the seed photons for the high-energy γ-ray emission is within the jet.     

Comparisons of Jet Properties between GeV Radio Galaxies and Blazars

We compile a sample of spectral energy distributions(SEDs) of 12 GeV radio galaxies(RGs),including eight FR Ⅰ RGs and four FR Ⅱ RGs. These SEDs can be represented with the one-zone leptonic model. No significant unification, as expected in the unification model, is found for the derived jet parameters between FR Ⅰ RGs and BL Lacertae objects(BL Lacs) and between FR Ⅱ RGs and flat spectrum radio quasars(FSRQs). However, on average FR Ⅰ RGs have a larger γb(break Lorentz factor of electrons) and lower B(magnetic field strength) than FR Ⅱ RGs, analogous to the differences between BL Lacs and FSRQs. The derived Doppler factors(δ) of RGs are on average smaller than those of blazars, which is consistent with the unification model such that RGs are the misaligned parent populations of blazars with smaller δ. On the basis of jet parameters from SED fits, we calculate their jet powers and the powers carried by each component, and compare their jet compositions and radiation efficiencies with blazars. Most of the RG jets may be dominated by particles, like BL Lacs, not FSRQs.However, the jets of RGs with higher radiation efficiencies tend to have higher jet magnetization. A strong anticorrelation between synchrotron peak frequency and jet power is observed for GeV RGs and blazars in both the observer and co-moving frames, indicating that the "sequence" behavior among blazars, together with the GeV RGs, may be intrinsically dominated by jet power.     

Highly variable γ-ray emission of CTD 135 and implications for its compact symmetric structure

The γ-ray emission properties of CTD 135,a typical compact symmetric object(CSO),are investigated with ～11-year Fermi/LAT observations.We show that it has bright and significantly variable GeV emission,with the γ-ray luminosity of L_γ～ 10~(47) erg s~(-1) and a variation index of TS_(var)=1002.A quasi-periodic oscillation(QPO) with a periodicity of ～460 days is detected in the global 95% false-alarm level.These γ-ray emission features are similar to that of blazars.Its broadband spectral energy distribution(SED) can be attributed to the radiations of the relativistic electrons accelerated in the core region and the extended region.The SED modeling shows that the γ-rays are from the core region,which has a Doppler boosting factor of δ～10.8 and relativistically moves with a small viewing angle,being similar to blazar jets.On the base of the analysis results,we propose that the episodic activity of the central engine in CTD135 results in a blazar-like jet and the bubble-like lobes as the Fermi bubbles in the Galaxy.The strong 7-ray emission with obvious variability is from the jet radiations and the symmetric radio structure is attributed to the bubbles.The jet radiation power and disk luminosity in units of Eddington luminosity of CTD 135 follow the same relation as other young radio sources,indicating that its jet radiation may also be driven by the Eddington ratio.     

Superluminal Motion and Polarization in Blazars

A relativistic beaming model has been successfully used to explain the observed properties of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). In this model there are two emission components, a boosted one and an unbeamed one, shown up in the radio band as the core and lobe components. The luminosity ratio of the core to the lobe is denned as the core-dominance parameter (R = LCore/LLobe). The de-beamed radio luminosity (Ldbjet) in the jet is assumed to be proportional to the unbeamedluminosity (Lub) in the co-moving frame, i.e., f = Ldbjet/Lub, and f is determined in ourprevious paper. We further discuss the relationship between BL Lacertae objects (BLs) and flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs), which are subclasses of blazars with different degrees of polarization, using the calculated values of the ratio f for a sample of superluminal blazars. We found 1) that the BLs show smaller averaged Doppler factors and Lorentz factors, larger viewing angles and higher core-dominance parameters than do the FSRQs, and 2) that in th     

Similarity of jet radiation between flat spectrum radio quasars and GeV narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies: a universal δ-L_c correlation

By modeling the broadband spectral energy distributions(SEDs) of a typical flat spectrum radio quasar(FSRQ, 3C 279) and two GeV narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies(NLS1s, PMN J0948+0022 and 1H0323+342) in different flux stages with one-zone leptonic models, we find a universal correlation between their Doppler factors(δ) and peak luminosities(L_c) of external Compton scattering bumps. Compiling a combined sample of FSRQs and GeV NLS1s, it is found that both FSRQs and GeV NLS1s in different stages and in different sources follow the same δ-L_c correlation well. This indicates that the variations of observed luminosities may be essentially due to the Doppler boosting effect. The universal δ-L_c relation between FSRQs and GeV NLS1s in different stages may be further evidence that the particle acceleration and radiation mechanisms for the two kinds of sources are similar. In addition, by replacing L_c with the observed luminosity in the Fermi/LAT band(L_(LAT)), this correlation holds and it may serve as an empirical indicator of δ. We estimate the δ values with L_(LAT) for 484 FSRQs in the Fermi/LAT Catalog and they range from 3 to 41, with a median of 16, which are statistically consistent with the values derived by other methods.     

Searching for γ-ray counterparts to very faint X-ray transient neutron star binaries

Very faint X-ray transients(VFXTs) are a group of X-ray binaries with low luminosities,displaying peak X-ray luminosities during their outbursts of only 10~(34)–10~(36) erg s~(-1). Using γ-ray data obtained with the Large Area Telescope(LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope(Fermi),we investigate their possible nature of containing rotation-powered pulsars, or more specifically being transitional millisecond pulsars(MSPs). Among more than 40 known VFXTs, we select 12 neutron star systems. We analyze the LAT data for the fields of 12 VFXTs in the energy range 0.2–300 Ge V,but do not find any counterparts likely detected by Fermi. We obtain luminosity upper limits for the 12 sources. While the distances to the sources are largely uncertain, the upper limits are comparable to the luminosities of two transitional systems, PSR J1023-0038 and XSS J12270-4859. From our study,we conclude that no evidence is found at γ-rays for the suggestion that some VFXTs could contain rotation-powered MSPs(or be transitional MSP systems).     

Effects of Redshift on the Classifying Criteria of BL Lacertae Objects

We have collected a sample of 70 BL Lacs (33 radio-selected BL Lacs and 37 X-ray selected BL Lacs) with multi-waveband data for investigating the classifying criteria of BL Lacertae Objects. For each source, we estimate its luminosities in radio, optical and X-ray, the broad-band spectral index from radio to X-ray and the peak frequency of the syn- chrotron emission, and make a statistical analysis of the data obtained. Our main results are as follows: (1) The broad-band spectral index and the peak frequency have no correlation with the redshift, while they are inversely correlated with each other and they could be regarded as equivalent classifying criteria of BL Lac objects. (2) There are significant effects of the luminosity/redshift relation on the observed luminosity distribution in our sample, hence, if the radio luminosity is to be used as a classifying criterion of BL Lac objects, it should not be regarded as equivalent to the broad-band spectral index or the peak frequency. (3) Our re- sults supply a specific piece of evidence for the suggestion that the use of luminosities always introduces a redshift bias to the data and show that the location of the peak frequency is not always linked to the luminosity of any wave band.     

The relationship between the radio core-dominance parameter and spectral index in different classes of extragalactic radio sources(Ⅲ)

Active galactic nuclei(AGNs) can be divided into two major classes,namely radio-loud and radio-quiet AGNs.A small subset of the radio-loud AGNs is called blazars,which are believed to be unified with Fanaroff-Riley type Ⅰ and type Ⅱ(FRIⅡ) radio galaxies.Following our previous work,we present a latest sample of 966 sources with measured radio flux densities of the core and extended components.The sample includes 83 BL Lacs,473 flat spectrum radio quasars,101 Seyferts,245 galaxies,52 FRIsⅡs and12 unidentified sources.We then calculate the radio core-dominance parameters and spectral indices and study their relationship.Our analysis shows that the core-dominance parameters and spectral indices are quite different for different types of sources.We also confirm that the correlation between core-dominance parameter and radio spectral index extends over all the sources in a large sample presented.     

Spectral energy distributions for TeV blazars

In this work, we collected a sample of 69 TeV blazars from TeVCat, obtained their multiwavelength observations, and fitted their spectral energy distributions by using a second degree polynomial function. The structure parameters of synchrotron bumps for 68 blazars and those of inverseCompton bumps for 56 blazars were derived. Then, we conducted statistical analysis on the parameters(curvature, peak frequency, peak luminosity, bolometric luminosity and X/γ-ray spectral indexes).From our analysis and discussions, we can conclude the following:(1) There is a clear positive correlation between the synchrotron peak frequency, log ν_p~s, and the inverse-Compton peak frequency, log ν_p~(IC),and between the synchrotron peak luminosity, log ν_p~sL_(νp)~s, and the inverse-Compton peak luminosity,log ν_p~(IC)L_(νp)~(IC).(2) The correlation between the peak frequency and the curvature of synchrotron bump is clearly different from that of the inverse-Compton bump, which further indicates that there are different emission mechanisms between them.(3) There is a correlation between log νIC pand γ-ray spectral index, α_γ, for the TeV blazars: log ν_p~(IC)=-(4.59 ± 0.30)α_γ+(32.67 ± 0.59), which is consistent with previous work.(4) An "L-shape" relation is found between log ν_p~s and α_X for both TeV blazars and Fermi blazars. A significant correlation between log νs pand X-ray photon index(α_X) is found for the TeV blazars with high synchrotron peak frequency: log ν_p~s=-(3.20 ± 0.34)α_X+(24.33 ± 0.79),while the correlation is positive for low synchrotron peaked TeV sources.(5) In the αX-αγdiagram,there is also an "L-shape." The anti-correlation is consistent with results available in the literature, and we also find a positive correlation between them.(6) Inverse-Compton dominant sources have luminous bolometric luminosities.     

Identification of candidate millisecond pulsars from Fermi LAT observations

We report our detailed data analysis of 39 γ-ray sources selected from the 992 unassociated sources in the third Fermi Large Area Telescope Third Source Catalog.The selection criteria,which were set for finding candidate millisecond pulsars(MSPs),are non-variables with curved spectra and 5?Galactic latitudes.From our analysis,24 sources were found to be point-like sources not contaminated by background or nearby unknown sources.Three of them,J1544.6-1125,J1625.1-0021 and J1653.6-0158,have been previously studied,indicating that they are likely MSPs.The spectra of J0318.1+0252 and J2053.9+2922 do not have properties similar to known γ-ray MSPs,and we thus suggest that they are not MSPs.Analysis of archival X-ray data for most of the 24 sources was also conducted.Four sources were found with X-ray objects in their error circles,and 16 with no detection.The ratios between the γ-ray fluxes and X-ray fluxes or flux upper limits are generally lower than those of known γ-ray MSPs,suggesting that if the γ-ray sources are MSPs,none of the X-ray objects are their counterparts.Deep X-ray or radio observations of these sources are needed in order to identify their MSP nature.     

BL Lacertae objects and the extragalactic γ-ray background

A tight correlation between γ-ray and radio emission is found for a sample of BL Lacertae(BL Lac) objects detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope(Fermi) and the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope(EGRET) . The γ-ray emission of BL Lac objects exhibits strong variability,and the detection rate of γ-ray BL Lac objects is low,which may be related to the γ-ray duty cycle of BL Lac objects. We estimate the γ-ray duty cycle,δγ 0.11,for BL Lac objects detected by EGRET and Fermi. Using the empirical r...     

Pulsed γ-ray properties of Crab pulsar in a retarded dipole with a current-induced magnetic field

Motivated by the Fermi observations of someγ-ray pulsars in which the phases of radio andγ-ray peaks are almost the same,we investigate the outer gap model in a retarded dipole with a current-induced magnetic field and apply it to explain pulsedγ-ray properties of the Crab pulsar.Our results show that the observedγ-ray energy-dependent light curves,which almost align with the radio light curve and phase averaged spectrum for the Crab pulsar,are reproduced well.     

The relationship between the radio core-dominance parameter and spectral index in different classes of extragalactic radio sources(Ⅱ)

Active galactic nuclei(AGNs) can be divided into two major classes, namely radio-loud and radio-quiet AGNs. A small subset of the radio-loud AGNs is called blazars, which are believed to be unified with Fanaroff-Riley type Ⅰ/Ⅱ(FRI/Ⅱ) radio galaxies. Following our previous work(Fan et al.), we present a sample of 2400 sources with measured radio flux densities of the core and extended components. The sample contains 250 BL Lacs, 520 quasars, 175 Seyferts, 1178 galaxies, 153 FRI or FRⅡ galaxies and 104 unidentified sources. We then calculate the radio core-dominance parameters and spectral indices, and study their relationship. Our analysis shows that the core-dominance parameters and spectral indices are quite different for different types of sources. We also confirm that the correlation between core-dominance parameter and spectral index exists for a large sample presented in this work.     

Comparison between TeV and non-TeV BL Lac Objects

BL Lacertae objects(BL Lacs) are the dominant population of Te V emitting blazars. In this work, we investigate whether there are any special observational properties associated with Te V sources.To do so, we will compare the observational properties of Te V detected BL Lacs(Te V BLs) with non-Te V detected BL Lac objects(non-Te V BLs). From the 3rd Fermi/LAT source catalog(3FGL), we can obtain662 BL Lacs, out of which 47 are Te V BLs and 615 are non-Te V BLs. Their multi-wavelength flux densities(FpR, FO, FX and Fγ), photon spectral indexes(α~(ph)_Xand α~(ph)_γ), and effective spectral indexes(α_(RO) and α_(OX))are compiled from the available literature. Then the luminosities(log ν L_R, log ν L_O, log ν L_X, log ν L_γ)are calculated. From comparisons, we find that Te V BLs are different from low synchrotron peaked BLs and intermediate synchrotron peaked BLs, but Te V BLs show similar properties to high synchrotron peaked(HSP) BLs. Therefore, we concentrated on a comparison between Te V HSP BLs and non-Te V HSP BLs.Analysis results suggest that Te V HSP BLs and non-Te V HSP BLs exhibit some differences in their αRO and αphγ, but their other properties are quite similar.     

The lower limit of the Doppler factor for a Fermi blazar sample

We selected 457 blazars(193 flat spectrum radio quasars, 61 lowsynchrotron peaked blazars, 69 intermediate-synchrotron peaked blazars and 134high-synchrotron peaked blazars) from the second Fermi-LAT catalog(2FGL) of γ-ray sources, which have X-ray observations. We calculated the lower limits for their Doppler factors, δγ, and compared the lower limits with the available Doppler factors and the apparent superluminal velocities in the literature.     

Searching for AGN and pulsar candidates in 4FGL unassociated sources using machine learning

In the fourth Fermi Large Area Telescope source catalog(4 FGL),5064γ-ray sources are reported,including 3207 active galactic nuclei(AGNs),239 pulsars,1336 unassociated sources,92 sources with weak association with blazars at low Galactic latitudes and 190 other sources.We employ two different supervised machine learning classifiers,combined with the direct observation parameters given by the 4 FGL fits table,to search for sources potentially classified as AGNs and pulsars in the 1336 unassociated sources.In order to reduce the error caused by the large difference in the sizes of samples,we divide the classification process into two separate steps in order to identify the AGNs and the pulsars.First,we select the identified AGNs from all of the samples,and then select the identified pulsars from the remaining cases.Using the 4 FGL sources associated or identified as AGNs,pulsars and other sources with the features selected through the K-S test and the random forest(RF)feature importance measurement,we trained,optimized and tested our classifier models.Then,the models are applied to classify the 1336 unassociated sources.According to the calculation results of the two classifiers,we report the sensitivity,specificity,accuracy in each step and the class of unassociated sources given by each classifier.The accuracy obtained in the first step is approximately 9595%;in the second step,the obtained overall accuracy is approximately 80%.Combining the results of the two classifiers,we predict that there are 583 AGN-type candidates,115 pulsar-type candidates,154 other types ofγ-ray candidates and 484 of uncertain types.