Narrow Results

In the framework of AGN unification, BL Lacs and their parent population would share the same intrinsic characteristics, the observational differences being due to the orientation of the jet compared to our line of sight. BL Lacs would be those objects whose jet is oriented towards us, Doppler boosting the emission. The growing number of BL Lacs detected at HE (> 100 MeV) and VHE (> 100 GeV) is a challenge for this scheme, since the high values of Doppler factors needed to explain the emission of these sources imply a large density for the parent population.

We studied the BL Lac source sample detected by Fermi after 11 months of observation. Using the data presented in Fermi's first AGN catalog, we put constraints on the intrinsic characteristics of this BL Lac population, such as the intrinsic luminosity and Lorentz factor distributions. Based on these results, we used Monte Carlo simulations to constrain the space density of the parent population and the jet opening angle.

In the framework of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) unification, BL Lacs and their parent population would share the same intrinsic characteristics, the observational differences being due to the orientation of the relativistic jet compared to the line of sight. BL Lacs would be the objects whose jet is oriented towards us, their emission being amplified by the relativistic Doppler boosting. Constraints arising from fast variability and/or large optical depth to pair production commonly imply large Lorentz factors. The growing number of BL Lacs detected at HE (> 100 MeV) and VHE (> 100 GeV) is a challenge for this unification scheme. Indeed, the high values of Doppler factor needed in the simplest radiative model to explain the emission of these sources imply a large density for the parent population. A possible solution to this Doppler factor crisis lies in considering different geometries for the jet. In this study, we use the BL Lacs detected at HE and VHE to investigate the intrinsic properties of the associated parent population. Using the results presented in Fermi's second AGN catalog and performing MC simulations of the parent population, we constrain the jet parameters: its intrinsic luminosity, Lorentz factor and geometric opening angle. The simulated density of parent population and Doppler factors of the objects detectable at HE within this population are presented according to the jet parameters.

The majority of blazars detected at very high energies (VHE; E > 100 GeV) are high-frequency-peaked BL Lac objects (HBLs). Low- and intermediate-frequency-peaked BL Lacs (LBLs/IBLs with synchrotron-peak frequencies in the infrared and optical regime) are generally more powerful, more luminous, and have a richer jet environment than HBLs. However, only a handful of these IBL and LBLs have been detected by ground-based gamma-ray telescopes, typically during high-flux states. The VERITAS array has been monitoring five known VHE LBLs/IBLs since 2009: 3C 66A, W Comae, PKS 1424+240, S5 0716+714 and BL Lacertae, with typical exposures of 5-10 hours per year. The results of these long-term observations are presented, including a bright, subhour-scale VHE flare of BL Lacertae in June 2011, the first low-state detections of 3C 66A and W Comae, and the detection and characterization of the IBL B2 1215+30.

I report about the unification of relativistic jets from compact objects. The mass range is between 1.4 and 10 billion solar masses (i.e. from neutron stars to supermassive black holes in galaxies).

The location of the main emitting region responsible for the bulk of the Blazar emission is a puzzling issue in our understanding of jetted Active Galactic Nuclei. Fast flares and a high Compton dominance are more easily explained if the gamma-ray zone is well inside the Broad Line Region (BLR), while the absence of γ-γ absorption features in the Fermi-LAT spectra as well as the detection at Very High Energies (VHE) of some FSRQ put the blazar zone at much larger distances along the jet, beyond the BLR. The latter seems now to be the most typical behavior in FSRQ, questioning SED models based on the external Compton process on BLR photons.