Suzaku Wide Band Analysis of the X-ray Variability of TeV Blazar Mrk 421 in 2006

TL;DR

This study analyzes Suzaku X-ray observations of the TeV blazar Mrk 421 in 2006, revealing spectral variability during a flare and proposing models for the variable and steady emission components.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed spectral analysis of Mrk 421's variability with Suzaku, distinguishing between localized shock acceleration and extended region processes.

Findings

Detected a 50% flux decrease and 35% increase over 6 hours.

Spectral variability is well modeled by a synchrotron cutoff power law.

Variable component likely due to localized shock acceleration.

Abstract

We present the results of X-ray observations of the well-studied TeV blazar Mrk 421 with the Suzaku satellite in 2006 April 28. During the observation, Mrk 421 was undergoing a large flare and the X-ray flux was variable, decreasing by ~ 50 %, from 7.8x10^{-10} to 3.7x10^{-10} erg/s/cm^2 in about 6 hours, followed by an increase by ~ 35 %. Thanks to the broad bandpass coupled with high-sensitivity of Suzaku, we measured the evolution of the spectrum over the 0.4--60 keV band in data segments as short as ~1 ksec. The data show deviations from a simple power law model, but also a clear spectral variability. The time-resolved spectra are fitted by a synchrotron model, where the observed spectrum is due to a exponentially cutoff power law distribution of electrons radiating in uniform magnetic field; this model is preferred over a broken power law. As another scenario, we separate the spectrum into "steady" and "variable" components by subtracting the spectrum in the lowest-flux period from those of other data segments. In this context, the difference ("variable") spectra are all well described by a broken power law model with photon index Gamma ~ 1.6, breaking at energy epsilon_{brk} ~ 3 keV to another photon index Gamma ~ 2.1 above the break energy, differing from each other only by normalization, while the spectrum of the "steady" component is best described by the synchrotron model. We suggest the rapidly variable component is due to relatively localized shock (Fermi I) acceleration, while the slowly variable ("steady") component is due to the superposition of shocks located at larger distance along the jet, or due to other acceleration process, such as the stochastic acceleration on magnetic turbulence (Fermi II) in the more extended region.