paper

A Shock-in-Jet Synchrotron Mirror Model for Blazars

arXiv:2111.11738

Abstract

Reinhard Schlickeiser has made groundbreaking contributions to various aspects of blazar physics, including diffusive shock acceleration, the theory of synchrotron radiation, the production of gamma-rays through Compton scattering in various astrophysical sources, etc. This paper, describing the development of a self-consistent shock-in-jet model for blazars with a synchrotron mirror feature, is therefore an appropriate contribution to a Special Issue in honor of Reinhard Schlickeiser's 70th birthday. The model is based on our previous development of a self-consistent shock-in-jet model with relativistic thermal and non-thermal particle distributions evaluated via Monte-Carlo simulations of diffusive shock acceleration, and time-dependent radiative transport. This model has been very successful in modeling spectral variability patterns of several blazars, but has difficulties describing orphan flares, i.e., high-energy flares without a significant counterpart in the low-frequency (synchrotron) radiation component. As a solution, this paper investigates the possibility of a synchrotron mirror component within the shock-in-jet model. It is demonstrated that orphan flares result naturally in this scenario. The model's applicability to a recently observed orphan gamma-ray flare in the blazar 3C279 is discussed and it is found that only orphan flares with mild ( a factor of 2 - 3) enhancements of the Compton dominance can be reproduced in a synchrotron-mirror scenario, if no additional parameter changes are invoked.

Published in a Special Issue of "Physics" in Honor of Reinhard Schlickeiser's 70th Birthday

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