Transient QPOs of Fermi-LAT blazars under the Curved Jet Model

TL;DR

This paper investigates transient quasi-periodic oscillations in gamma-ray emissions of two blazars using decade-long Fermi-LAT data, applying a curved jet model to understand jet dynamics and variability.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis methodology to characterize transient QPOs and interprets their amplitudes within a curved jet framework, linking observations to jet evolution mechanisms.

Findings

Detection of QPO signatures in long-term light curves

Development of a method to analyze QPO amplitude decay

Insights into jet dynamics and potential underlying mechanisms

Abstract

This study explores transient quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in the $\gamma$-ray emission of two blazars, PMN J0531$-$4827 and PKS 1502+106, using over a decade of Fermi Large Area Telescope observations. The analysis focuses on identifying QPO signatures in their long-term light curves and interpreting the variability through a curved jet model, which predicts multiplicative oscillations with exponentially decaying amplitudes. We develop an analysis methodology to characterize the QPO and the specific properties of the amplitude of such QPOs. The findings offer insights into the dynamic processes driving relativistic jet evolution and their potential connections to underlying mechanisms, such as binary systems or other phenomena influencing the observed characteristics of these blazars.