Blazar jet physics in the age of Fermi

TL;DR

This paper reviews how the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has advanced blazar research, highlighting observational findings, source classifications, and theoretical implications for blazar physics and cosmic ray origins.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of Fermi's impact on blazar studies, including new observational data and theoretical insights into blazar unification and high-energy processes.

Findings

Fermi identified various extragalactic source classes.

Observations of specific blazars like 3C454.3 and PKS 2155-304 are discussed.

Implications for blazar unification and cosmic ray origins are explored.

Abstract

The impact of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope on blazar research is reviewed. This includes a brief description of the Fermi Large Area Telescope, a summary of the various classes of extragalactic sources found in the First Large Area Telescope AGN Catalog, and more detailed discussion of the flat spectrum radio quasar 3C454.3 and the BL Lac object PKS 2155-304. Some theoretical studies related to ongoing blazar research with Fermi are mentioned, including implications of gamma-ray observations of radio galaxies on blazar unification scenarios, variability in colliding shells, and whether blazars are sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays.