Mid-infrared variability of blazars: a view from NEOWISE survey

We studied mid-infrared (MIR) variability of a large sample of blazars detected by LAT/Fermi (called Fermi-detected blazars) and those not detected by LAT/Fermi (called non-Fermi-detected blazars) in order to investigate any difference in the variability characteristics between them as well as between FSRQs and BL Lacs. Making use of NEOWISE archival data from October 2013 to December 2017, we constructed the long-term 3.4 μm and 4.6 μm light curves of 2,573 blazars and computed their intrinsic variability amplitudes, \(\varPsi \). As a result, we found that (1) Fermi-detected blazars show higher \(\varPsi \) than non-Fermi-detected blazars; (2) Fermi-detected FSRQs show higher \(\varPsi \) than non-Fermi-detected FSRQs; (3) Fermi-detected BL Lacs show higher \(\varPsi \) than non-Fermi-detected BL Lacs; (4) FSRQs show higher \(\varPsi \) than BL Lacs. By comparing their distributions of “\(\mathit{var}\_\mathit{flg}\)” in the ALLWISE database, we also found that Fermi-detected blazars/FSRQs/BL Lacs tend to be more variable than non-Fermi-detected blazars/FSRQs/BL Lacs. For the Fermi-detected blazars, there are highly significant correlations between the flux densities and spectral indices in the MIR and gamma-ray bands. These results imply that the activity in the two bands is connected. Our results are consistent with several earlier results on the differences between Fermi-detected blazars and non-Fermi-detected blazars. We also give some possible explanations about the statistical results.     

Correlation between X-ray and γ-ray for Fermi blazars

Using γ-ray band data detected by Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and X-ray band data for 78 blazars, we find a medium correlation between X-ray flux and γ-ray flux in all states. A medium correlation is also found between X-ray (1 keV) mean spectral index α _x and γ-ray mean spectral index α _γ for BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs), and there is no correlation for Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs). From these results, we suggest that the most likely radiation mechanism for the high energy gamma-rays would be synchrotron self-Compton (SSC), and that the gamma-ray emission mechanism may be somewhat different for BL Lacs and FSRQs.     

Radio Observation of the 11-Month Fermi-AGN at Urumqi Observatory

We carry out flux observation at 5 GHz for 124 sources from the ‘clean’ sample of Fermi catalog 1LAC (The First LAT AGN Catalog) with Urumqi 25 m telescope. We find that it is obvious that there is a correlation between the γ-ray and the radio flux density for blazars. For the subclasses, the correlation for FSRQs is strong, but the correlation for BL Lacs is weak.     

The evolutionary sequence of Fermi blazars

Using γ-ray data (α _γ , F _γ ) detected by Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and black hole mass which has been compiled from literatures for 116 Fermi blazars, we calculated intrinsic γ-ray luminosity, intrinsic bolometric luminosity, intrinsic Eddington ratio and studied the relationships between all above parameters and redshift, between α _γ and L _γ . Furthermore, we obtained the histograms of key parameters. Our results are the following: (1) The main reason for the evolutionary sequence of three subclasses (HBLs, LBLs, FSRQs) may be Eddington ratio rather than black hole mass; (2) FSRQs occupy in the earlier, high-luminosity, high Eddington ratio, violent phase of the galactic evolution sequence, while BL Lac objects occur in the low luminosity, low Eddington ratio, late phase of the galactic evolution sequence; (3) These results imply that the evolutionary track of Fermi blazars is FSRQs ? LBLs ? HBLs.     

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     

The γ-ray emission mechanism for Fermi Blazars

Fermi Blazars are characterized mainly by the vast effect that relativistic beaming has on their emission spectra. Fermi-LAT has detected more than 1000 blazars which provide us with a good opportunity to study the emission mechanism. In this paper, adopted the Doppler factor δ _γ determined in our previous paper, the γ-ray emission mechanism is discussed using the investigation of dependence of the γ-ray luminosity on the Doppler factor. Our discussions suggest that the γ-ray emission mechanism is SSC for BL Lacs.     

Long-term optical-infrared color variability of blazars

The long-term optical and infrared color variability of blazars has been investigated with monitoring data from the Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System(SMARTS). The sample in this study consists of 49 flat spectrum radio quasars(FSRQs) and 22 BL Lacertae objects(BL Lacs). The fractional variability amplitudes of each source have been calculated in both optical R band and infrared J band. Overall, the variability amplitudes of FSRQs are larger than those of BL Lacs. The results also suggest that the variability amplitude of most FSRQs is larger at a lower energy band(J band) than at a higher one(R band), but the variability amplitude of BL Lacs is larger at the higher energy band. Both types of blazars display color variation along with variability in brightness. However, they show different variation behaviors in general. In the whole data set, 35 FSRQs exhibit redder-whenbrighter trends, and 11 FSRQs exhibit opposite trends; 11 BL Lacs follow bluer-whenbrighter trends, and seven BL Lacs follow opposite trends. A detailed examination indicates that there are 10 blazars showing redder-when-brighter trends in their low state, and bluer-when-brighter or stable-when-brighter trends in their high state. Some more complicated color behaviors have also been detected in several blazars. The nonthermal jet emission and the thermal emission from the accretion disk are employed to explain the observed color behaviors.     

Gamma-ray luminosity function of gamma-ray bright AGNs

Detection of γ-ray emissions from a class of active galactic nuclei (viz blazars),has been one of the important findings from the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO). However, their-γ-ray luminosity function has not been well determined. Few at-tempts have been made in earlier works, where BL Lacs and Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs) have been considered as a single source class. In this paper, we investigated the evolution and γ-ray luminosity function of FSRQs and BL Lacs separately. Our investi-gation indicates no evolution for BL Lacs, however FSRQs show significant evolution. Pure luminosity evolution is assumed for FSRQs and exponential and power law evolu-tion models are examined. Due to the small number of sources, the low luminosity end index of the luminosity function for FSRQs is constrained with an upper limit. BL Lac lu-minosity function shows no signature of break. As a consistency check, the model source distributions derived from these luminosity functions show no significant departure from the observed source distributions.     

Fermi耀变体的gamma射线多波段辐射与射电辐射的关系

从Fermi 3期源表(3FGL)中选择了一个含935个耀变体(blazar)的样本, 包括415个平谱射电源(Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar, FSRQ), 520个蝎虎天体(BL Lac object, BL Lac), 其中高同步峰BL Lac (HBL) 233个, 中同步峰BL Lac (IBL) 144个, 低同步峰BL Lac (LBL) 143个. 研究了总样本、FSRQ、BL Lac及其子类HBL、LBL的射电1.4GHz 与gamma射线在0.1、0.3、1、3、10GeV处辐射流量密度的关系. 结果显示: 所有样本的射电1.4GHz与5个波段gamma射线的辐射流量都有强相关, 相关系数在0.48--0.81之间, 机会概率均小于$10^{-4; 对于不同的样本相关系数随着gamma射线辐射频率的变化有不同的变化趋势, 所有样本在5个波段的相关系数平均值随gamma射线频率的增加而减小. 该结果暗示, 随着频率的升高, blazar的gamma射线辐射主导机制在发生变化, 在相同频率处, 不同类型天体的辐射主导机制存在差异; HBL的gamma射线辐射主要由同步自康普顿主导, 而LBL的其他成份比HBL的更复杂; FSRQ的gamma射线起源较BL Lac的复杂.     

A unifying view of the spectral energy distributions of blazars

We collect data at well-sampled frequencies from the radio to the γ-ray range for the following three complete samples of blazars: the Slew survey, the 1-Jy samples of BL Lacs and the 2-Jy sample of flat-spectrum radio-loud quasars (FSRQs). The fraction of objects detected in γ-rays ( E  ≳ 100 MeV) is ∼ 17, 26 and 40 per cent in the three samples respectively. Except for the Slew survey sample, γ-ray detected sources do not differ either from other sources in each sample, or from all the γ-ray detected sources, in terms of the distributions of redshift, radio and X-ray luminosities or of the broad-band spectral indices (radio to optical and radio to X-ray). We compute average spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from radio to γ-rays for each complete sample and for groups of blazars binned according to radio luminosity, irrespective of the original classification as BL Lac or FSRQ. The resulting SEDs show a remarkable continuity in that (i) the first peak occurs in different frequency ranges for different samples/luminosity classes, with most luminous sources peaking at lower frequencies; (ii) the peak frequency of the γ-ray component correlates with the peak frequency of the lower energy one; (iii) the luminosity ratio between the high and low frequency components increases with bolometric luminosity. The continuity of properties among different classes of sources and the systematic trends of the SEDs as a function of luminosity favour a unified view of the blazar phenomenon: a single parameter, related to luminosity, seems to govern the physical properties and radiation mechanisms in the relativistic jets present in BL Lac objects as well as in FSRQs. The general implications of this unified scheme are discussed while a detailed theoretical analysis, based on fitting continuum models to the individual spectra of most γ-ray blazars, is presented in a separate paper.     

The contribution of unresolved radio-loud AGN to the extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray background

We present a calculation of the blazar contribution to the extragalactic diffuse γ -ray background (EGRB) in the EGRET energy range. Our model is based on inverse-Compton scattering as the dominant γ -ray production process in the jets of flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and BL Lac objects, and on the unification scheme of radio-loud AGN. According to this picture, blazars represent the beamed fraction of the Fanaroff–Riley radio galaxies (FR galaxies).
The observed log  N –log  S distribution and redshift distribution of both FSRQs and BL Lacs constrain our model. Depending slightly on the evolutionary behaviour of blazars, we find that unresolved AGN underproduce the intensity of the extragalactic background radiation. With our model only 20–40 per cent of the extragalactic background emission can be explained by unresolved blazars if we integrate to a maximum redshift of Z _max=3. For Z _max=5, blazars could account for 40–80 per cent of the EGRB. Roughly 70–90 per cent of the AGN contribution to the EGRB would result from BL Lacs. While the systematic uncertainties in our estimate for the FSRQ contribution appear small, in the case of BL Lacs our model parameters are not consistent with the results from studies in other wavelength regimes, and therefore may have larger systematic uncertainties. Thus we end up with two possibilities, depending on whether we underpredict or overpredict the BL Lac contribution: either unresolved AGN cannot account for the entire EGRB, or unresolved BL Lacs produce the observed background.
We predict a significant flattening of the γ -ray log  N –log  S function in the next two decades of flux below the EGRET threshold.     

Long-term optical color behavior of a sample of blazars

We report on the optical color variability of a sample of 24 blazars, consisting of nine flat spectrum radio quasars(FSRQs) and 15 BL Lacertae objects(BL Lacs), on timescales of years using simultaneous V-and R-band observations observed by the Kanata telescope at Higashi-Hiroshima Observatory.The correlations between color indices V-R and magnitudes reveal that 11 BL Lacs and one FSRQ exhibited significant(i.e., r 0.2 and P 0.01) bluer-when-brighter(BWB) trend and two FSRQs followed the redder-when-brighter(RWB) tend, indicating a possibility that the BWB chromatic trend is dominant for BL Lacs and the RWB trend is especially found in FSRQs, which has been presented occasionally in different samples of blazars.The superpositions of the red emission component from the Doppler-boosted relativistic jet and the blue component arising from the accretion disk might be a possible interpretation for the long-term color behaviors.     

The broadband spectral energy distributions of SDSS blazars

We compiled the radio, optical and X-ray data of blazars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey database, and presented the distribution of luminosities and broadband spectral indices. The distribution of luminosities shows that the averaged luminosity of flat spectrum radio quasars(FSRQs) is larger than that of BL Lacertae(BL Lac) objects. On the other hand, the broadband spectral energy distribution reveals that FSRQs and low energy peaked BL Lac objects have similar spectral properties,but high energy peaked BL Lac objects have a distinct spectral property. This may be due to the fact that different subclasses of blazars have different intrinsic environments and are at different cooling levels. Even so, a unified scheme is also revealed from the color-color diagram, which hints that there are similar physical processes operating in all objects under a range of intrinsic physical conditions or beaming parameters.     

Linear size–extended radio luminosity (D–P E ) correlation in BL Lacertae objects: evidence for large scale beaming?

In this paper, we use the distributions of projected linear size (D), core- (P _C ) and extended- (P _E ) radio luminosities, to investigate a consequence of relativistic beaming and radio source orientation scenario for low-luminosity extragalactic radio sources. In this scenario, BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs) are believed to be Fanaroff-Riley type I (FR I) radio galaxies, but with radio axes aligned close to the line of sight. At this orientation, the core emission is greatly enhanced by relativistic Doppler boosting and linear size foreshortened due to geometrical projection. A simple outcome of this scenario is that the extended luminosity is expected to be orientation invariant, but a D–P _C correlation is envisaged. Results show that both the relative core dominance (R) and linear size are strongly correlated with extended luminosity (r≥ 0.7). Using the R-distribution and R–P _E anti-correlation, we show that the difference in radio core-dominance between FR I radio galaxies and X-ray selected BL Lacs can be accounted for by a bulk Lorentz factor γ～5–13 and viewing angle ?～5–15^°, which can be understood in terms of the scenario, with relativistic beaming persisting at largest scales.     

The Correlation between γ-Ray and Radio Emissions for the Fermi Blazars

Based upon the Fermi blazars sample, the radio and γ-ray emissions are compiled for a sample of 74 γ-ray loud blazars to calculate the radio to γ-ray effective spectrum index α _{R γ}. The correlations between α _{R γ} and γ-ray luminosity, and between radio and γ-ray luminosity are also investigated.     

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

Active galactic nuclei(AGNs)have two major classes,namely radio loud AGNs and radio quiet AGNs.A small subset of the radio-loud AGNs is called blazars,which display extreme observational properties,such as rapid variability,high luminosity,high and variable polarization,and superluminal motion.All of those observational properties are probably due to a relativistic beaming effect with the jet pointing close to the line of sight.Observations suggest that the orientation can be expressed by a core-dominance p...     

Ratio of the Core to the Extended Emissions in the Comoving Frame for Blazars

In a two-component jet model, the emissions are the sum of the core and extended emissions: \(S^{\mathrm{ob}}=S_{\mathrm{core}}^{\mathrm{ob}}+S_{\mathrm{ext}}^{\mathrm{ob}}\), with the core emissions, \(S_{\mathrm{core}}^{\mathrm{ob}}= f S_{\mathrm{ext}}^{\mathrm{ob}}\delta ^{q}\) being a function of the Doppler factor \(\delta \), the extended emission \(S_{\mathrm{ext}}^{\mathrm{ob}}\), the jet type dependent factor q, and the ratio of the core to the extended emissions in the comoving frame, f. The f is an unobservable but important parameter. Following our previous work, we collect 65 blazars with available Doppler factor \(\delta \), superluminal velocity \(\beta _{\mathrm{app}}\), and core-dominance parameter, R, and calculated the ratio, f, and performed statistical analyses. We found that the ratio, f, in BL Lacs is on average larger than that in FSRQs. We suggest that the difference of the ratio f between FSRQs and BL Lacs is one of the possible reasons that cause the difference of other observed properties between them. We also find some significant correlations between \(\log f\) and other parameters, including intrinsic (de-beamed) peak frequency, \(\log \nu _{\mathrm{p}}^{\mathrm{in}}\), intrinsic polarization, \(\log P^{\mathrm{in}}\), and core-dominance parameter, \(\log R\), for the whole sample. In addition, we show that the ratio, f, can be estimated by R.     

Characteristics of the Radiation from Blazars

We have collected short-timescale variability data of 47 blazars, estimated the masses of their central black holes and the sizes of their radiation regions at different wavebands, and made a statistical analysis on the calculated results. It is found that the central black hole mass of blazars falls in the range 10⁷M to 10¹⁰M, and that the BL Lac objects and the flat-spectrum radio quasars have very different central black hole masses (the latter being generally greater), while they have very similar sizes of radiation regions in the infrared and γ-ray wavebands. Also, using the collected bolometric luminosity data, we have analyzed the relationship between the bolometric luminosity of blazars and their short-timescale variability, and it is concluded that the radiations from the radio-selected BL Lac objects (RBLs) and flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) are strongly beam-confined, while the effect of relativistic beaming is relatively small for the X-ray-selected BL Lac objects (XBLs).     

On the Absence of Core Luminosity–Core-Dominance Parameter (P C − R) Correlation in Radio Galaxies and BL Lacs

We have presented an alternative interpretation for the absence of correlation in the relationship between the core radio power (P _C) and core-dominance parameter (R) for a sample of BL Lacs and radio galaxies found in Fan & Zhang (Astron. Astrophys. 407, 899 (2003)). This is contrary to the predictions of the relativistic beaming and radio source orientation models in which the core luminosity is expected to be Doppler-boosted relative to the extended luminosity which is generally assumed to be isotropic. Our analysis of the P _C???R data indicates a strong luminosity selection effect (reminiscent of bright source samples due to Malmquist bias) in the sample. In particular, we showed that a strong P _C???R correlation exists above some redshift cut-off which may correspond to the flux limit of the sample used.     

The Relationship between Radio Luminosity and Core-Dominance Parameter for XBLs

In this work, we investigate the correlation between the luminosity and the core-dominance parameter for a sample of X-ray selected BL Lacertae objects (XBLs), and found that the extended luminosity is strongly anti-correlated with the core-dominance parameter while the core (or the total) luminosity is not correlated with the core-dominance parameter. If this is the case, then we can expect that the lower extended luminosity XBLs and their core luminosity is relatively higher. This can be explained by a relativistic beaming model since in this case, the viewing angle is smaller and the emissions dominate the extended emissions. Therefore, the anti-correlation is in fact the result of the relativistic beaming model.