Flaring γ-Ray Emission from High Redshift Blazars

Abstract

High redshift blazars are among the most powerful objects in the Universe. Although they represent a significant fraction of the extragalactic hard X-ray sky, they are not commonly detected in γ-rays. High redshift ( z > 2 ) objects represent < 10 per cent of the active galactic nuclei (AGN) population observed by Fermi so far, and γ-ray flaring activity from these sources is even more uncommon. The characterization of the radio-to-γ-ray properties of high redshift blazars represents a powerful tool for the study of the energetics of such extreme objects and the Extragalactic Background Light. This contribution will present results of multi-band campaigns, from radio to γ-rays, on PKS 0836+710, PKS 2149−306, and TXS 0536+145. The latter is the highest redshift detection of a flaring γ-ray blazar so far. At the peaks of their respective flares these sources reached an apparent isotropic gamma-ray luminosity of about 10 50 erg·s − 1 , which is comparable with the luminosity observed from the most powerful blazars. The physical properties derived from the multi-wavelength observations of these sources are then compared with those shown by the high redshift population.

Keywords

• galaxies: active
• gamma-rays: general
• radiation mechanisms: non-thermal