Rapid Variability of Gamma-Ray Blazars: A Model for MKN 421

Abstract

The extremely rapid burst of TeV photons from Mkn 421 (15 May 1996) can be reconciled with the standard properties of a relativistic gamma-ray emitting jet (bulk Lorentz factor $\approx$ 10; size $\10^{17}$ cm) if one assumes that the electrons are accelerated in conical shocks with both opening and viewing angles $\approx 1/\Gamma$. If the injection time and the cooling time are much less than the photon crossing time, an emission ring moves along the jet and leads to the appearance of a very rapid flare, in satisfactory agreement with the observations.

12 pages, 3 figures, uses aasms4.sty, to appear in ApJ Letters

References in corpus (1)

• Multiwavelength Monitoring of the BL Lacertae Object PKS 2155-304 in May 1994. III. Probing the Inner Jet through Multiwavelength Correlations

Cited by in corpus (14)

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• Synchrotron Self-Compton Model for Rapid Nonthermal Flares in Blazars with Frequency-Dependent Time Lags
• Characteristic X-ray Variability of TeV Blazars: Probing the Link between the Jet and the Central Engine
• X-ray Flaring Activity of Mrk 421
• Variable VHE gamma-ray emission from non-blazar AGNs
• Low Power Compact Radio Galaxies at High Angular Resolution
• The low-power nucleus of PKS 1246-410 in the Centaurus Cluster
• Time series analysis of gamma-ray blazars and implications for the central black-hole mass
• High Observed Brightnesses in Radio Jets
• Short-term VHE variability in blazars: PKS 2155-304
• Factors Determining Variability Time in Active Galactic Nucleus Jets
• Observational Properties of Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei
• A Discovery of Rapid Optical Flares from Low-Luminosity Active Nuclei in Massive Galaxies
• Active Galactic Nuclei at the Crossroads of Astrophysics