Datensatz

Zusammenfassung

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.