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Abstract:
Very rapid variations of the gamma-ray flux from blazars suggest that there is a mechanism at
work which modulates blazar emission on timescales much smaller than the light-crossing time
of the black hole’s event horizon. We propose a scenario in which blazar photons are modulated
at the frequency w of a large-amplitude wave that is launched in the polar region of the central,
rotating black hole, and propagates in a charge-starved jet. Using a two-fluid (e±) description, we
find the outflow exhibits a delayed acceleration phase that starts when the inertia associated with
the wave currents becomes important. The modulation of the emission from the accelerating jet
is preserved for the observer provided that the density of pairs, produced in an electromagnetic
cascade, is sufficiently low.
