Abstract
Blazars are highly variable and display complex characteristics. A key characteristic is the flux probability distribution function or flux PDF whose shape depends upon the form of the underlying physical process driving variability. The BL Lacertae Mrk 421 is one of the brightest and most variable blazars across the electromagnetic spectrum. It has been reported to show hints of lognormality across the spectrum from radio to gamma-ray histograms of observed fluxes. This would imply that the underlying mechanisms may not conform to the “standard” additive, multi-zone picture, but could potentially have multiplicative processes. This is investigated by testing the observed lightcurves at different wavelengths with time-series simulations. We find that the simulations reveal a more complex scenario, than a single lognormal distribution explaining the multiwavelength lightcurves of Mrk 421.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 7 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Galaxies |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 16 Jan 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Funder
This research was funded by the European Research Council via the CUNDA project under grant number 694509.Keywords
- blazars
- variability
- lognormality
- Mrk 421