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 (4)

• MAGIC discovery of VHE Emission from the FSRQ PKS 1222+21
• A change in the optical polarization associated with a gamma-ray flare in the blazar 3C 279
• Rapid variability in TeV blazars: the case of PKS 2155-304
• Multiwavelength Variations of 3C 454.3 during the November 2010 to January 2011 Outburst

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