Blazar Variability and Evolution in the GeV Regime

TL;DR

This study investigates the GeV gamma-ray variability of blazars, exploring the relationship between redshift and variability amplitude to understand blazar evolution and the physical origin of the blazar sequence.

Contribution

It presents an analysis of Fermi-LAT data revealing potential correlations between redshift and variability in different blazar subclasses, offering insights into blazar evolution.

Findings

Hint of correlation between redshift and variability amplitude in FSRQs

BL Lacs with lower peak frequency and redshift tend to have smaller variability

Analysis supports the connection between blazar properties and their evolution

Abstract

One of the most important problem of the blazar astrophysics is to understand the physical origin of the blazar sequence. In this study, we focus on the GeV gamma-ray variability of blazars and evolution perspective we search the relation between the redshift and the variability amplitude of blazars for each blazar subclass. We analyzed the Fermi-LAT data of the TeV blazars and the bright AGNs (flux $\geq$ 4$\times10^{-9}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$) selected from the 2LAC (the 2nd LAT AGN catalog) data base. As a result, we found a hint of the correlation between the redshift and the variability amplitude in the FSRQs. Furthermore the BL Lacs which have relatively lower peak frequency of the synchrotron radiation and relatively lower redshift, have a tendency to have a smaller variability amplitude.