On the Origin of Gamma-ray Flares from Bright Fermi Blazars

Understand

The origin of gamma-ray flares observed from blazars is one of the major mysteries in jet physics.

• We have attempted to address this problem following a novel spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting technique that explored the flaring patterns identified in the broadband SEDs of two gamma-ray bright blazars 3C 279 (z=0.54) and 3C 454.3 (z=0.86), using near-simultaneous radio-to-gamma-ray observations.
• For both sources, the gamma-ray flux strongly correlates with the separation of the SED peaks and the Compton dominance.
• We propose that spectral hardening of the radiating electron population and/or enhancement of the Doppler factor can naturally explain these observations.