Rapid TeV variability in Blazars as result of Jet-Star Interaction

Abstract

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 dynamical model for the evolution of the envelope lost by the star in the jet, and its high energy nonthermal emission through different leptonic and hadronic radiation mechanisms. We show that the fragmented envelope of the star can be accelerated to Lorentz factors up to 100 and radiate effectively the available energy in gamma-rays predominantly through proton synchrotron radiation or external inverse Compton scattering of electrons. The model can readily explain the minute-scale TeV flares on top of longer (typical time-scales of days) gamma-ray variability as observed from the blazar PKS 2155-304. In the framework of the proposed scenario, the key parameters of the source are robustly constrained. In the case of proton synchrotron origin of the emission a mass of the central black hole of $M_{\mathrm{BH}}\approx 10^8{M}_{\odot }$, a total jet power of $L_{\mathrm{j}}\approx 2\times 10^{47}\mathrm{erg}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ and a Doppler factor, of the gamma-ray emitting blobs, of $\delta \ge 40$ are required. Whilst for the external inverse Compton model, parameters of $M_{\mathrm{BH}}\approx 10^8{M}_{\odot }$, $L_{\mathrm{j}}\approx 10^{46}\mathrm{erg}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ and the $\delta \ge 150$ are required.

25 pages, 11 figures, Submitted to ApJ

References in corpus (20)

• Fast TeV variability in blazars: jets in a jet
• Probing the Inner Jet of the Quasar PKS 1510-089 with Multi-waveband Monitoring during Strong Gamma-ray Activity
• Magnetic acceleration of ultra-relativistic jets in gamma-ray burst sources
• Magnetic acceleration of relativistic AGN jets
• Implications of very rapid TeV variability in blazars
• A Reconnection Switch to Trigger Gamma-Ray Burst Jet Dissipation
• Gamma-Ray Studies of Blazars: Synchro-Compton Analysis of Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars
• Location of gamma-ray Flare Emission in the Jet of the BL Lacertae Object OJ287 more than 14pc from the Central Engine
• Simultaneous observations of PKS 2155-304 with H.E.S.S., Fermi, RXTE and ATOM: spectral energy distributions and variability in a low state
• Formation of hard VHE gamma-ray spectra of blazars due to internal photon-photon absorption
• On the Location of the Gamma-ray Emission in the 2008 Outburst in the BL Lacertae Object AO 0235+164 through Observations across the Electromagnetic Spectrum
• Gamma-ray flares from red giant/jet interactions in AGN
• Magnetohydrodynamic models of astrophysical jets
• Gamma rays from cloud penetration at the base of AGN jets
• Tearing instability in relativistic magnetically dominated plasmas
• Extragalactic relativistic jets
• A photon breeding mechanism for the high-energy emission of relativistic jets
• Modeling the hard TeV spectra of blazars 1ES 0229+200 and 3C 66A with an internal absorption scenario
• Magnetic acceleration of ultra-relativistic GRB and AGN jets
• Collimation and Radiative Deceleration of Jets in TeV AGNs

Cited by in corpus (72)

• A hadronic origin for ultra-high-frequency-peaked BL Lac objects
• Reconnection-driven plasmoids in blazars: fast flares on a slow envelope
• Rapid TeV Gamma-Ray Flaring of BL Lacertae
• Gamma-ray emission from massive stars interacting with AGN jets
• Leptonic and Hadronic Radiative Processes in Supermassive-Black-Hole Jets
• Lepto-hadronic $\gamma$-ray and neutrino emission from the jet of TXS 0506+056
• Scenarios for ultrafast gamma-ray variability in AGN
• Active Galactic Nuclei under the scrutiny of CTA
• Interpretation of the flares of M87 at TeV energies in the cloud-jet interaction scenario
• Multi-band optical variability of three TeV Blazars on Diverse Timescales
• Star-Jet Interactions and Gamma-Ray Outbursts from 3C454.3
• Gamma-ray flaring activity of NGC 1275 in 2016-2017 measured by MAGIC
• Intra-night optical variability of core dominated radio quasars: the role of optical polarization
• First-Epoch VLBA Imaging of Twenty New TeV Blazars
• Radio Galaxies at VHE energies
• Broadband characterisation of the very intense TeV flares of the blazar 1ES 1959+650 in 2016
• Energetic Constraints on a Rapid Gamma-Ray Flare in PKS 1222+216
• Optical quasi-periodic oscillation and color behavior of blazar PKS 2155-304
• A model for the repeating FRB 121102 in the AGN scenario
• Multi-Epoch VLBA Imaging of Twenty New TeV Blazars: Apparent Jet Speeds
• Coupling hydrodynamics and radiation calculations for star-jet interactions in AGN
• Fermi~I particle acceleration in converging flows mediated by magnetic reconnection
• Magnetospheric Gamma-Ray Emission in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Connecting steady emission and Very High Energy flaring states in blazars: the case of Mrk 421
• Flare-like Variability of the Mg~II $\lambda$2798 Å Emission Line and UV Fe~II band in the Blazar CTA~102
• Blazar Spectra with Hard-sphere-like Acceleration of Electrons
• Long term γ -ray variability of blazars
• Statistical analysis on XMM-Newton X-ray flares of Mrk 421: distributions of peak flux and flaring time duration
• The impact of red giant/AGB winds on AGN jet propagation
• Exploring the origin of multiwavelength activities of high-redshift FSRQ PKS 1502+106 during 2014-2018
• Collective non-thermal emission from an extragalactic jet interacting with stars
• Multi-TeV flaring from blazars: Markarian 421 a case study
• Depletion of bright red giants in the Galactic center during its active phases
• X-ray and gamma-ray variability of Mrk 421
• Synchrotron Lightcurves of blazars in a time-dependent synchrotron-self Compton cooling scenario
• Blazars at Very High Energies: Emission Modelling
• Non-thermal emission from standing relativistic shocks: an application to red giant winds interacting with AGN jets
• Gamma rays from jets interacting with BLR clouds in blazars
• Characterization of Variability in Blazar Light curves
• Magnetic Field Amplification and Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars
• Blazar Variability From Turbulence in Jets Launched by Magnetically Arrested Accretion Flows
• Extremely rapid x-ray flares of tev blazars in the rxte era
• Discovering the Mass-Scaled Damping Timescale from Microquasars to Blazars
• Gamma rays from red giant wind bubbles entering the jets of elliptical host blazars
• Ultrafast Variability in AGN Jets: Intermittency and Lighthouse Effect
• Extremely High energy peaked BL Lac nature of the TeV blazar Mrk 501
• Modeling the effects of clumpy winds in the high-energy light curves of γ-ray binaries
• Simulations of Stochastic Long-Term Variability in Leptonic Models for External-Compton and Synchrotron Self-Compton Dominated Blazars
• Neutrinos from blazars
• Jet propagation and deceleration
• On the deceleration of Fanaroff-Riley Class I jets: mass loading of magnetized jets by stellar winds
• Gamma-Rays from Non-Blazar AGN
• Inverse Compton light curves of blazars under non-linear, time-dependent synchrotron-self Compton cooling
• Non-thermal emission resulting from a supernova explosion inside an extragalactic jet
• The observability of plasmoid-powered $\gamma$-ray flares with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
• The role of supernovae inside AGN jets in UHECR acceleration
• The Parsec-Scale Structure of the Newer TeV Blazars
• Two active states of the narrow-line gamma-ray-loud AGN GB 1310+487
• Red giant - jet collisions in galactic nuclei I: 3D hydrodynamical model of a few stellar orbits
• Blazars and Optical Depth in a non-linear, time-dependent injection and cooling scenario
• A numerical study on the role of instabilities on multi-wavelength emission signatures of blazar jets
• Optically thick, nonlocal, inhomogeneous, stationary jet model for high-energy radiation from blazars: Application to Mrk 421
• The origin of the very-high-energy radiation along the jet of Centaurus A
• Multi-band implications of external-IC flares
• The ablation of gas clouds by blazar jets
• VHE $\gamma$-ray observations of bright BL Lacs with the Large-Sized Telescope prototype (LST-1) of the CTAO
• Multi-wavelength observations of the Blazar 4C +28.07
• Progress in Multiwavelength and Multi-Messenger Observations of Blazars and Theoretical Challenges
• Missing bright red giants in the Galactic center: A fingerprint of its once active state?
• A Shock-in-Jet Synchrotron Mirror Model for Blazars
• The Study of X-Ray Flux Variability of M87
• Extreme Transients in Gamma Rays