A spine-sheath model for strong-line blazars

Abstract

We have developed a quasi-analytical model for the production of radiation in strong-line blazars, assuming a spine-sheath jet structure. The model allows us to study how the spine and sheath spectral components depend on parameters describing the geometrical and physical structure of "the blazar zone". We show that typical broad-band spectra of strong-line blazars can be reproduced by assuming the magnetization parameter to be of order unity and reconnection to be the dominant dissipation mechanism. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the spine-sheath model can explain why gamma-ray variations are often observed to have much larger amplitudes than the corresponding optical variations. The model is also less demanding of jet power than one-zone models, and can reproduce the basic features of extreme gamma-ray events.

7 pages, 9 figures. Minor changes are made to match the version accepted for publication in MNRAS

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• The relativistic jet of the gamma-ray emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H 0323+342
• On the origin of the hard X-Ray excess of high-synchrotron-peaked BL Lac object Mrk 421
• Kinetic Beaming in Radiative Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection: A Mechanism for Rapid Gamma-Ray Flares in Jets
• NuSTAR perspective on high-redshift MeV blazars
• Search for multi-flare neutrino emissions in 10 years of IceCube data from a catalog of sources
• High-redshift blazars through nustar eyes
• The Bright $\gamma$-ray Flare of 3C 279 in June 2015: AGILE Detection and Multifrequency Follow-up Observations
• Blazars at Very High Energies: Emission Modelling
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• The Hard X-ray emission of the blazar PKS 2155--304
• The variability of blazars throughout the electromagnetic spectrum
• Multiwavelength analysis and the difference in the behavior of the spectral features during the 2010 and 2014 flaring periods of the blazar 3C 454.3
• Meeting the Challenge from Bright and Fast Gamma-Ray Flares of 3C 279
• Nonradial and nonpolytropic astrophysical outflows. X. Relativistic MHD rotating spine jets in Kerr metric
• Photohadronic scenario in interpreting the February-March 2014 flare of 1ES 1011+496
• Toy model for the acceleration of blazar jets
• Conditions for Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection under the Presence of Shear Flow and Guide Field
• Estimating the Jet Power from Broadband SED modeling of Mkn 501 for different particle distributions
• Pair-Regulated Klein-Nishina Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection with Applications to Blazars and Accreting Black Holes