Towards a Luminosity Function of TeV Gamma-ray Blazars

TL;DR

This paper explores a method to determine the luminosity function of TeV gamma-ray blazars using observations from the VERITAS observatory, aiming to understand their spatial distribution and intrinsic properties.

Contribution

It proposes a source selection method tailored for deriving the luminosity function of TeV gamma-ray blazars from ground-based gamma-ray observations.

Findings

Identified approximately seventy TeV gamma-ray blazars, including sixty BL Lac objects.

Developed a source selection method for luminosity function determination.

Lays groundwork for future statistical studies of blazar populations.

Abstract

Over seventy blazars identified as sources of TeV gamma ray emission have been detected, including approximately sixty BL Lac objects and seven flat spectrum radio quasars. The distribution in space of these objects can be described by a luminosity function, which gives their comoving space density as a function of their luminosity. We investigate a source selection method to be used for determining the luminosity function of TeV gamma-ray blazars using observations from VERITAS, a ground-based gamma-ray observatory consisting of an array of four atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes located in southern Arizona.