Time series analysis of gamma-ray blazars and implications for the central black-hole mass

Abstract

Radiation from the blazar class of of active galactic nuclei (AGN) exhibits fast time variability which is usually ascribed to instabilities in the emission region near the central supermassive black hole. The variability time scale is generally faster in higher energy region, and data recently provided by the {\it Fermi} Gamma-ray Space Telescope in the GeV energy band enable a detailed study of the temporal behavior of AGN. Due to its wide field-of-view in the scanning mode, most sky regions are observed for several hours per day and daily light curves of many AGN have been accumulated for more than 4 years. In this paper we investigate the time variability of 15 well-detected AGNs by studying the normalized power spectrum density (NPSD) of their light curves in the GeV energy band. One source, 3C 454.3, shows a specific time scale of $6.8\times 10^5$ s, and this value suggests, assuming the internal shock model, a mass for the central black hole of $(10^8$--$10^{10})M_{\odot }$ which is consistent with other estimates. It also indicates the typical time interval of ejected blobs is $(7$--$70)$ times the light crossing time of the Schwarzschild radius.

Typographical errors and some editorial issues corrected. 19 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (20)

• Unified Schemes for Radio-Loud Active Galactic Nuclei
• The Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Mission
• Fermi Large Area Telescope Second Source Catalog
• A Unifying View of the Spectral Energy Distributions of Blazars
• An Exceptional VHE Gamma-Ray Flare of PKS 2155-304
• Polarimetric Observations of 15 Active Galactic Nuclei at High Frequencies: Jet Kinematics from Bimonthly Monitoring with the Very Long Baseline Array
• MAGIC discovery of VHE Emission from the FSRQ PKS 1222+21
• Gamma-ray Light Curves and Variability of Bright Fermi-Detected Blazars
• A change in the optical polarization associated with a gamma-ray flare in the blazar 3C 279
• Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Observations of the Gamma-ray Outburst from 3C 454.3 in November 2010
• X-ray continuum variability of MCG-6-30-15
• Rapid variability in TeV blazars: the case of PKS 2155-304
• Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Observations of Recent Gamma-ray Outbursts from 3C 454.3
• On the masses of black-holes in radio-loud quasars
• The gamma-ray brightest days of the blazar 3C 454.3
• Timing Signatures of the Internal-Shock Model for Blazars
• Characteristic X-ray Variability of TeV Blazars: Probing the Link between the Jet and the Central Engine
• Multiwavelength Variations of 3C 454.3 during the November 2010 to January 2011 Outburst
• The extraordinary gamma-ray flare of the blazar 3C 454.3
• Rapid Variability of Gamma-Ray Blazars: A Model for MKN 421

Cited by in corpus (26)

• Characterizing the Gamma-Ray Variability of the Brightest Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars Observed with the Fermi LAT
• Stochastic Modeling of the Fermi/LAT Gamma-ray Blazar Variability
• A comprehensive power spectral density analysis of astronomical time series I: the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray light curves of selected blazars
• Locating the gamma-ray emission site in Fermi/LAT blazars from correlation analysis between 37 GHz radio and gamma-ray light curves
• A search for cyclical sources of gamma-ray emission on the period range from days to years in the Fermi-LAT sky
• Fourier Analysis of Blazar Variability
• Gamma-ray Flux Distribution and Non-linear behavior of Four LAT Bright AGNs
• Characterizing the gamma-ray long-term variability of PKS 2155-304 with H.E.S.S. and Fermi-LAT
• The flux distribution of individual blazars as a key to understand the dynamics of particle acceleration
• Characteristic Variability Timescales in the Gamma-ray Power Spectra of Blazars
• Evidence for two Lognormal States in Multi-wavelength Flux Variation of FSRQ PKS 1510-089
• Multi-wavelength variability study of the classical BL Lac object PKS 0735+178 on timescales ranging from decades to minutes
• Multiwavelength variability and correlation studies of Mrk 421 during historically low X-ray and $\gamma$-ray activity in 2015$-$2016
• Possible Accretion Disk Origin of the Emission Variability of a Blazar Jet
• Multiwavelength variability study and search for periodicity of PKS 1510-089
• Fourier Analysis of Blazar Variability: Klein-Nishina Effects and the Jet Scattering Environment
• Resolving the High Energy Universe with Strong Gravitational Lensing: The Case of PKS 1830-211
• Gaussian Process Modeling Blazar Multiwavelength Variability: Indirectly Resolving Jet Structure
• Gravitational Lenses as High-Resolution Telescopes
• X-ray timing and spectral variability properties of blazars S5 0716+714, OJ 287, Mrk 501, and RBS 2070
• Flux and Spectral Variation Characteristics of 3C 454.3 at the GeV Band
• Deviations from normal distributions in artificial and real time series: a false positive prescription
• Multi-frequency Variability Study of Flat-Spectrum Radio Quasar PKS 0346-27
• Modeling Fermi Large Area Telescope and Multiwavelength Data from Blazars
• Study of Intra-Day Flux Distributions of Blazars Using XMM-Newton Satellite
• Constraining $\gamma$-ray dissipation site in gravitationally lensed quasar -- PKS 1830$-$211