Understanding the Broadband Emission Process of 3C 279 through Longterm Spectral Analysis

TL;DR

This study provides a comprehensive long-term spectral analysis of the quasar 3C 279, revealing the emission mechanisms and spectral variations across multiple energy bands over 14 years.

Contribution

It offers the first detailed broadband spectral analysis of 3C 279 over a long period, linking spectral variations to electron distribution changes and emission processes.

Findings

Spectral variations linked to electron distribution parameters.

Gamma-ray flux shows double log-normal distribution.

Different emission mechanisms dominate at various energies.

Abstract

The long term broadband spectral study of Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars during different flux states has the potential to infer the emission mechanisms and the cause of spectral variations. To scrutinize this, we performed a detailed broadband spectral analysis of 3C 279 using simultaneous Swift-XRT/UVOT and Fermi-LAT observations spanning from August 2008 to June 2022. We also supplement this with the simultaneous NuSTAR observations of the source. The optical/UV, X-ray, and gamma-ray spectra were individually fitted by a power-law to study the long-term variation in the flux and the spectral indices. A combined spectral fit of simultaneous optical/UV and X-ray spectra was also performed to obtain the transition energy at which the spectral energy distribution is minimum. The correlation analysis suggests that the long-term spectral variations of the source are mainly associated with the variations in the low energy index and the break energy of the broken power-law electron distribution which is responsible for the broadband emission. The flux distribution of the source represents a log-normal variability while the gamma-ray flux distribution showed a clear double log-normal behavior. The spectral index distributions were again normal except for gamma-ray which showed a double-Gaussian behavior. This indicates that the log-normal variability of the source may be associated with the normal variations in the spectral index. The broadband spectral fit of the source using synchrotron and inverse Compton processes indicates different emission processes are active at optical/UV, X-ray, and gamma-ray energies.