{
  "id": "1312.3458",
  "version": "v1",
  "published": "2013-12-12T12:06:09.000Z",
  "updated": "2013-12-12T12:06:09.000Z",
  "title": "Multiwavelength Probes of the Environs of Relativistic Shocks in Blazar Jets",
  "authors": [
    "Matthew G. Baring",
    "Markus Boettcher",
    "Errol J. Summerlin"
  ],
  "comment": "14 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Proceedings of the Fourth Meeting on High Energy Phenomena in Relativistic Outflows, eds. F. M. Rieger et al. [International Journal of Modern Physics: Conference Series]",
  "categories": [
    "astro-ph.HE"
  ],
  "abstract": "Diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) at relativistic shocks is likely to be an important acceleration mechanism in various astrophysical jet sources, including radio-loud AGN. An important recent development for blazar science is the ability of Fermi-LAT data to pin down the power-law index of the high energy portion of emission in these sources, and therefore also the index of the underlying non-thermal particle population. This diagnostic potential was not possible prior to Fermi launch, when gamma-ray information was dominated by the highly-absorbed TeV band. This paper highlights how multiwavelength spectra including X-ray band and Fermi data can be used to probe diffusive acceleration in relativistic, oblique, MHD shocks in blazar jets. The spectral index of the non-thermal particle distributions resulting from Monte Carlo simulations of DSA, and the fraction of thermal particles accelerated to non-thermal energies, depend sensitively on the particles' mean free path scale, and also on the magnetic field obliquity to the shock normal. We investigate self-consistently the radiative synchrotron/Compton signatures of the resulting thermal and non-thermal particle distributions. Important constraints on the frequency of particle scattering and the level of field turbulence are identified for the blazar AO 0235+164. The possible interpretation that turbulence levels decline with remoteness from jet shocks, and a significant role for non-gyroresonant diffusion, are discussed.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v1",
      "updated": "2013-12-12T12:06:09.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "subjects": [
      "98.62.Nx",
      "98.54.Cm",
      "95.85.Pw",
      "97.80.Jp",
      "52.35.Ra",
      "52.35.Tc",
      "52.27.Ny"
    ],
    "keywords": [
      "relativistic shocks",
      "blazar jets",
      "multiwavelength probes",
      "non-thermal particle distributions",
      "mean free path scale"
    ],
    "tags": [
      "conference paper",
      "journal article"
    ],
    "publication": {
      "doi": "10.1142/S2010194514601677",
      "journal": "International Journal of Modern Physics Conference Series",
      "year": 2014,
      "month": "Mar",
      "volume": 28,
      "pages": 1460167
    },
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 14,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable",
      "inspire": 1268940,
      "adsabs": "2014IJMPS..2860167B"
    }
  }
}