Gamma-Ray Observational Properties of TeV-Detected Blazars

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the gamma-ray emission properties of TeV-detected blazars by combining Fermi-LAT and ground-based telescope data, revealing spectral features and absorption effects across a broad energy range.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive characterization of TeV blazar gamma-ray spectra from 100 MeV to 10 TeV using combined space and ground observations.

Findings

Spectral energy distributions show features indicating intrinsic absorption.

Simple power-law models often fail to fit high-energy spectra.

Comparison with X-ray and GeV populations highlights unique properties.

Abstract

The synergy between the Fermi-LAT and ground-based Cherenkov telescope arrays gives us the opportunity for the first time to characterize the high-energy emission from blazars over 5 decades in energy, from 100 MeV to 10 TeV. In this study, we perform a Fermi-LAT spectral analysis for TeV-detected blazars and combine it with archival TeV data. We examine the observational properties in the gamma-ray band of our sample of TeV-detected blazars and compare the results with X-ray and GeV-selected populations. The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) that result from combining Fermi-LAT and ground-based spectra are studied in detail. Simple parameterizations such as a power-law function do not always reproduce the high-energy SEDs, where spectral features that could indicate intrinsic absorption are observed.