On the injection of relativistic electrons in the jet of 3C 279
Abstract
The acceleration of electrons in 3C 279 is investigated through analysing the injected electron energy distribution (EED) in a time-dependent synchrotron self-Compton+external Compton emission model. In this model, it is assumed that relativistic electrons are continuously injected into the emission region, and the injected EED [Q_e^' (γ ^')] follows a single power-law form with low- and high-energy cut-offs γ _{min}^' } and γ _{max}^' }, respectively, and the spectral index n, I.e. Q_e^' (γ ^')∝ γ ^' -n}. This model is applied to 14 quasi-simultaneous spectral energy distributions of 3C 279. The Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)-fitting technique is performed to obtain the best-fitting parameters and the uncertainties on the parameters. The results show that the injected EED is well constrained in each state. The value of n is in the range of 2.5-3.8, which is larger than that expected by the classic non-relativistic shock acceleration. However, the large value of n can be explained by the relativistic oblique shock acceleration. The flaring activity seems to be related to an increased acceleration efficiency, reflected in an increased γ ^' }_min and electron injection power.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- March 2020
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/staa264
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2001.08897
- Bibcode:
- 2020MNRAS.493..410H
- Keywords:
-
- radiation mechanisms: non-thermal;
- galaxies: jets;
- gamma rays: galaxies;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena;
- High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
- E-Print:
- 18 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS