J/A+A/678/A140 Blazar flares against reconnection models (Jormanainen+, 2023)
Quantitative comparisons of very-high-energy gamma-ray blazar flares with
relativistic reconnection models.
Jormanainen J., Hovatta T., Christie I.M., Lindfors E., Petropoulou M.,
Liodakis I.
<Astron. Astrophys. 678, A140 (2023)>
=2023A&A...678A.140J 2023A&A...678A.140J (SIMBAD/NED BibCode)
ADC_Keywords: Active gal. nuclei; Gamma rays ; Models
Keywords: magnetic reconnection - methods: miscellaneous - galaxies: active -
galaxies: jets - gamma rays: galaxies -
radiation mechanisms: non-thermal
Abstract:
The origin of extremely fast variability is one of the long-standing
questions in the gamma-ray astronomy of blazars. While many models
explain the slower, lower energy variability, they cannot easily
account for such fast flares reaching hour-to-minute time scales.
Magnetic reconnection, a process where magnetic energy is converted to
the acceleration of relativistic particles in the reconnection layer,
is a candidate solution to this problem. In this work, we employ
state-of-the-art particle-in-cell simulations in a statistical
comparison with observations of a flaring episode of a well-known
blazar, Mrk 421, at very high energy (VHE, E above 100GeV). We tested
the predictions of our model by generating simulated VHE light curves
that we compared quantitatively with methods that we have developed
for a precise evaluation of theoretical and observed data. With our
analysis, we can constrain the parameter space of the model, such as
the magnetic field strength of the unreconnected plasma, viewing angle
and the reconnection layer orientation in the blazar jet. Our analysis
favours parameter spaces with magnetic field strength 0.1G, rather
large viewing angles (6-8 degrees), and misaligned layer angles,
offering a strong candidate explanation for the Doppler crisis often
observed in the jets of high synchrotron peaking blazars.
Description:
Full tables B.1-B.10 of Appendix B showing the detailed results of all
the comparison tests for all magnetic reconnection simulations.
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
tableb1.dat 58 95 Durations and mean fluxes of the 0.1G simulations
tableb2.dat 52 95 Timescale results of the 0.1G simulations
tableb3.dat 45 95 Flux amplitude results of the 0.1G simulations
tableb4.dat 28 95 Spectral results of the 0.1G simulations
tableb5.dat 62 95 Durations and mean fluxes of the 1G simulations
tableb6.dat 55 95 Timescale results of the 1G simulations
tableb7.dat 48 95 Flux amplitude results of the 1G simulations
tableb8.dat 29 95 Spectral results of the 1G simulations
tableb9.dat 63 95 Durations and mean fluxes of the 10G simulations
tableb10.dat 31 95 Intrabin test results of the 10G simulations
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tableb1.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 A7 --- Simulation thetaobs and thetap
11- 13 I3 h t200-400 Duration E 200-400GeV
17- 19 I3 h t400-800 Duration E 400-800GeV
23- 25 I3 h t800 Duration E above 800GeV
29- 36 E8.2 ph/cm2/s Fmean200-400 Mean flux E 200-400GeV
40- 47 E8.2 ph/cm2/s Fmean400-800 Mean flux E 400-800GeV
51- 58 E8.2 ph/cm2/s Fmean800 Mean flux E above 800GeV
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tableb2.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 A7 --- Simulation thetaobs and thetap
11- 15 F5.1 % 1-Pintrabins200-400 Probability of not detecting any
intrabins in the simulated light
curves for E 200-400GeV
19- 23 F5.1 % 1-Pintrabins400-800 Probability of not detecting any
intrabins in the simulated light
curves for E 400-800GeV
27- 31 F5.1 % 1-Pintrabins800 Probability of not detecting any
intrabins in the simulated light
curves for E above 800GeV
35- 38 F4.1 % roc200-400 Rate of change matches E 200-400GeV
42- 45 F4.1 % roc400-800 Rate of change matches E 400-800GeV
49- 52 F4.1 % roc800 Rate of change matches E abv 800GeV
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tableb3.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 A7 --- Simulation thetaobs and thetap
11- 14 F4.1 % Fdistr200-400 Flux distribution matches E 200-400GeV
18- 21 F4.1 % Fdistr400-800 Flux distribution matches E 400-800GeV
25- 27 F3.1 % Fdistr800 Flux distribution matches E abv 800GeV
31- 33 A3 --- Fvardistr200-400 [yes no] Fvar distribution matches
E 200-400GeV bool
37- 39 A3 --- Fvardistr400-800 [yes no] Fvar distribution matches
E 400-800GeV bool
43- 45 A3 --- Fvardistr800 [yes no] Fvar distribution matches
E abv 800GeV bool
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tableb4.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 A7 --- Simulation thetaobs and thetap
11- 13 F3.1 % mdistr Spectral slope distribution matches
17- 21 F5.2 --- mmean1000 Spectral slope mean of all means of
1000 samples
25- 28 F4.2 --- s_mmean1000 Standard deviation of mmean1000
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tableb5.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 A7 --- Simulation thetaobs and thetap
11- 14 F4.1 h t200-400 Duration E 200-400GeV
18- 21 F4.1 h t400-800 Duration E 400-800GeV
25- 29 F5.1 h t800 Duration E above 800GeV
33- 40 E8.2 ph/cm2/s Fmean200-400 Mean flux E 200-400GeV
44- 51 E8.2 ph/cm2/s Fmean400-800 Mean flux E 400-800GeV
55- 62 E8.2 ph/cm2/s Fmean800 Mean flux E above 800GeV
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tableb6.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 A7 --- Simulation thetaobs and thetap
11- 15 F5.1 % 1-Pintrabins200-400 Probability of not detecting any
intrabins in the simulated light
curves for E 200-400GeV
19- 23 F5.1 % 1-Pintrabins400-800 Probability of not detecting any
intrabins in the simulated light
curves for E 400-800GeV
27- 31 F5.1 % 1-Pintrabins800 Probability of not detecting any
intrabins in the simulated light
curves for E above 800GeV
35- 39 F5.1 % roc200-400 Rate of change matches E 200-400GeV
43- 47 F5.1 % roc400-800 Rate of change matches E 400-800GeV
51- 55 F5.1 % roc800 Rate of change matches E abv 800GeV
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tableb7.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 A7 --- Simulation thetaobs and thetap
11- 14 F4.1 % Fdistr200-400 Flux distribution matches E 200-400GeV
18- 21 F4.1 % Fdistr400-800 Flux distribution matches E 400-800GeV
25- 27 F3.1 % Fdistr800 Flux distribution matches E abv 800GeV
31- 34 F4.1 % Fvar200-400 Fvar factor matches E 200-400GeV
38- 41 F4.1 % Fvar400-800 Fvar factor matches E 400-800GeV
45- 48 F4.1 % Fvar800 Fvar factor matches E abv 800GeV
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tableb8.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 A7 --- Simulation thetaobs and thetap
11- 14 F4.1 % mdistr Spectral slope distribution matches
18- 22 F5.2 --- mmean Mean of spectral slopes
26- 29 F4.2 --- s_mmean Standard deviation of mmean
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tableb9.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 A7 --- Simulation thetaobs and thetap
11- 14 F4.2 h t200-400 Duration E 200-400GeV
18- 21 F4.2 h t400-800 ? Duration E 400-800GeV
25- 28 F4.2 h t800 ? Duration E above 800GeV
32- 39 E8.2 ph/cm2/s Fmean200-400 Mean flux E 200-400GeV
43- 51 E9.2 ph/cm2/s Fmean400-800 ? Mean flux E 400-800GeV
55- 63 E9.2 ph/cm2/s Fmean800 ? Mean flux E above 800GeV
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tableb10.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 A7 --- Simulation thetaobs and thetap
11- 15 F5.1 % 1-Pintrabins200-400 Probability of not detecting any
intrabins in the simulated light
curves for E 200-400GeV
19- 23 F5.1 % 1-Pintrabins400-800 ? Probability of not detecting any
intrabins in the simulated light
curves for E 400-800GeV
27- 31 F5.1 % 1-Pintrabins800 ? Probability of not detecting any
intrabins in the simulated light
curves for E above 800GeV
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Acknowledgements:
Jenni Jormanainen, jenni.s.jormanainen(at)utu.fi
(End) J. Jormanainen [FINCA, Univ. of Turku], P. Vannier [CDS] 18-Aug-2023