Rapid Gamma-Ray and Optical Variability in Bright Fermi Blazars

Using an "aperture photometry" technique to generate Fermi lightcurves on minute timescales, we have searched the brightest blazar flares for variability down to ~10 minute timescales. We find evidence for strong gamma-ray variability down to ~1 - 2 hour timescales, but not on ~10-30 minute timescales even though the photon statistics are sufficient to detect it. Using SMARTS optical/NIR, we then search for correlated rapid optical variability on similar timescales. While variability on these very short timescales is detected in a few cases, the optical variability amplitude is typically much smaller than the gamma-ray one. Interestingly, on ~1-3 daytimescales the optical and gamma-ray variability are instead well-correlated and of similar amplitude. We discuss the implications of this variability behavior for blazar modeling.