Fermi meets Jansky – AGN in Radio and Gamma-Rays

Savolainen, T., Ros, E., Porcas, R.W., & Zensus, J.A. (eds.)
June 21–23, 2010, Bonn, Germany

Physical properties of blazar jets from VLBI observations

Andrei Lobanov

Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany

Abstract. Relativistic jets, formed in the vicinity of central supermassive black holes in AGN, show ample evidence
connecting them to physical conditions in the accretion disc and broad-line region. The jets are responsible for a large
fraction of non-thermal continuum emission (particularly during powerful flares), which makes understanding their
physics an important aspect of studies of blazars characterised by profound flaring activity arising from extremely
compact regions. Imaging and polarimetry of radio emission on milliarcsecond scales provided by very long baseline
interferometry (VLBI) offers a range of possibilities for studying ultra-compact regions in relativistic jets and
relating them to main manifestations of the blazar activity in AGN. Simultaneous monitoring of optical/high
energy variability and evolution of parsec-scale radio structures yields arguably the most detailed picture of the
relation between acceleration and propagation of relativistic flows and non-thermal continuum generation in blazars.
Opacity effects provide a measure of magnetic field strength on scales down to ∼ 1000 gravitational radii and trace
the distribution of broad-line emitting material. Correlations observed between parsec-scale radio emission and
optical and gamma-ray continuum indicate that a significant fraction of non-thermal continuum may be produced
(particularly during flares) in extended regions of relativistic jet at distances up to 10 parsecs from the central
engine. Combined with studies of jet component ejections and X-ray variability, these correlations also suggest
that time delays, nuclear opacity, and jet acceleration may have a pronounced effect on the observed broad-band
variability and instantaneous spectral energy distribution (SED). These effects will be reviewed below and discussed
in the context of deriving accurate and self-consistent models for central regions of blazars.

1. Introduction (Lobanov 1998b, Lobanov & Zensus 1999), synchrotron

self-absorption (Lobanov 1998a), and free-free absorption
In the current astrophysical paradigm for active galactic in the ambient plasma (Walker et al. 2000, Kadler et al.
nuclei (AGN), each constituent of an AGN contributes to 2004).
a specific domain in the broad-band spectral energy distri- There is growing evidence for relativistic flows con-
bution (Ghisellini & Tavecchio 2009). Variability of con- tributing substantially to generation of non-thermal con-
tinuum flux in AGN, signalling the activity of the central tinuum in the optical (Arshakian et al. 2010, León-Tavares
engine, is detected throughout the entire electromagnetic et al. 2010, Jorstad et al. 2010), X-ray (Unwin et al. 1997,
spectrum, on time-scales from days to years. Substantial D’Arcangelo et al. 2007, Marscher et al. 2008), Soldi et al.
progress achieved during the past decade in studies of ac- 2008, Chatterjee et al. 2009), γ-ray (Otterbein et al. 1998,
tive galactic nuclei (see Lobanov & Zensus 2006 for a re- Jorstad et al. 2010, Marscher et al. 2010, Savolainen et
view of recent results) has brought an increasingly wider al. 2010, Schinzel et al. 2010) and TeV (Piner & Edwards
recognition of the ubiquity of relativistic outflows (jets) in 2004, Charlot et al. 2006, Acciari et al. 2009) domains.
AGN (Falcke 2001, Zensus 1997) and in blazars in partic- Accurate spatial localisation of production sites of vari-
ular. able non-thermal continuum emission in AGN is therefore
Understanding the physics of blazars jets has acquired instrumental for understanding the mechanism for release
a particular importance after the launch of Fermi Gamma- and transport of energy in active galaxies.
Ray Space Telescope, as the compact, relativistic flows In the radio regime, very long baseline interferome-
contribute strongly to the broad-band continuum – a fact try (VLBI) enables direct imaging of spatial scales com-
that is still somewhat overlooked in physical models de- parable the gravitational radius, Rg = G Mbh /c2 , of the
scribing high-energy emission from AGN. central black hole in AGN using ground VLBI observa-
Emission properties, dynamics, and evolution of an tions at 86 GHz and higher (cf., GMVA1 observations;
extragalactic jet are intimately connected to the char- Krichbaum et al. 2008) and space VLBI observations at
acteristics of the supermassive black hole, accretion disk centimetre wavelengths (Takahashi et al. 2004). Such high-
and broad-line region in the nucleus of the host galaxy resolution radio observations also access directly the re-
(Lobanov 2008). The jet continuum emission is dominated gions where the jets are formed (Junor et al. 1999), and
by non-thermal synchrotron and inverse-Compton radi- trace their evolution and interaction with the nuclear en-
ation (Unwin et al. 1997). The synchrotron mechanism vironment (Lobanov 2007, 2008 and Middelberg & Bach
plays a more prominent role in the radio domain, and
the properties of the emitting material can be assessed 1
Global Millimeter VLBI Array; http://www.mpifr-
using the turnover point in the synchrotron spectrum bonn.mpg.de/div/vlbi/globalmm

1
2 Andrei Lobanov: Physical properties of blazar jets from VLBI observations

2008). Evolution of compact radio emission from several erating and collimating extragalactic jets on parsec scales
hundreds of extragalactic relativistic jets is now system- (Vlahakis & Königl 2004). Three distinct regions with dif-
atically studied with dedicated monitoring programs and ferent physical mechanisms dominating the observed prop-
large surveys using very long baseline interferometry (such erties of the jets can be considered: 1) ultra-compact jets
as the 15 GHz VLBA2 survey (Kellermann et al. 2004) (on scales of up to ∼ 1 pc) where collimation and accel-
the MOJAVE3 survey (Lister & Homan 2005) and a dedi- eration of the flow occurs; 2) parsec-scale flows (∼ 10 pc
cated 22/43/86 GHz VLBA gamma-ray blazar monitoring scales) dominated by relativistic shocks and 3) larger-scale
program at the Boston University4 (Jorstad et al. 2001). jets (∼ 100 pc) where plasma instability gradually becomes
These studies, combined with optical and X-ray studies, dominant. This picture may be further complicated by
yield arguably the most detailed picture of the vicinity of transverse stratification of the flow, with the jet velocity,
supermassive black holes in AGN (Marscher 2005). particle density and magnetic field changing substantially
Presented below is a brief (and certainly incomplete) from the jet axis to its outer layers. As a practical result
summary of recent results from VLBI studies of compact of this stratification, shocks and instabilities may in fact
extragalactic radio sources, outlining the physical proper- co-exist on all scales in the jets, with instabilities simply
ties of relativistic parsec-scale jets and their relation to remaining undetected in compact flows, owing to limited
supermassive black holes, accretion disks and broad-line resolution and dynamic range of VLBI observations.
regions in prominent blazars.
2.1. Ultra-compact jets
2. Physics of compact jets
Blazar jets usually feature a bright, compact (often un-
Jets in active galaxies are formed in the immediate vicinity resolved) “core” and a weaker, extended jet (often also
of the central black hole (Camenzind 2005), at distances of transversely unresolved), with several regions of enhanced
10–102 Rg (Meier 2009). The jets carry away a fraction of emission (traditionally branded “jet components”) embed-
the angular momentum and energy stored in the accretion ded in the flow and separating from the core at appar-
flow (Blandford & Payne 1982, Hujeirat et al. 2003 or ently superluminal speeds. The radio core is offset from
corona (in low luminosity AGN; Merloni & Fabian 2002) the true base of the jet, and this “invisible” flow is proba-
and in the rotation of the central black hole (Blandford & bly Poynting flux-dominated (Meier 1999, 2003; Sikora et
Znajek 1977, Koide et al. 2002, Komissarov 2005, Semenov al. 2005).
et al. 2004). The radio core has a flat spectrum, expected to re-
The production of highly-relativistic outflows requires sult from synchrotron self-absorption in a conically ex-
a large fraction of the energy to be converted to Poynting panding ultra-compact flow (Königl 1981). As a result,
flux in the very central region (Sikora et al. 2005). The the observed position, rc , of the core depends on the fre-
efficiency of this process may depend on the spin of the quency of observation, ν, so that rc ∝ ν −1/kr (this is so
central black hole (Meier 1999). The collimation of such called “core shift” effect). If the core is self-absorbed and
a jet requires either a large scale poloidal magnetic field in equipartition, the power index kr = 1 (Blandford &
threading the disk (Spruit et al. 1997) or a slower and more Königl 1979). Recent measurements (Kovalev et al. 2008)
massive MHD outflow launched at larger disk radii by cen- have also shown that the frequency dependent core shift
trifugal forces (Bogovalov & Tsinganos 2005). The flowing increases during flares as expected from the synchrotron
plasma is likely to be dominated by electron-positron pairs self-absorption.
(Wardle et al. 1998, Hirotani 2005) although a dynami-
The core shift can be used for determining basic physi-
cally significant proton component cannot be completely
cal properties of the ultra-compact flow and the surround-
ruled out at the moment (Celotti & Fabian 1993).
ing absorbing material (Lobanov 1998a). Changes of the
Acceleration or collimation of the flow may be com- core position measured between three or more frequencies
plete within about 103 Rg (Meier et al. 2009) or continue can be used for determining the value of kr and estimating
all the way to scales of a few parsecs (Vlahakis & Königl the strength of the magnetic field, Bcore , in the nuclear re-
2004). At distances of ∼ 103 Rg , the jets become visible gion and the offset, Rcore , of the observed core positions
in the radio regime. Recent studies indicate that at 103 – from the true base of the jet. The combination of Bcore
105 Rg (≤ 1 pc) the jets are likely to be dominated by pure and Rcore gives an estimate for the mass of the central
electromagnetic processes such as Poynting flux (Sikora black hole Mbh ≈ 7 × 109 M (Bcore /G)1/2 (Rcore /pc)3/2 .
et al. 2005) or have both MHD (kinetic flux) and electro-
dynamic components (Meier 2003). At larger scales, the Core shift measurements provide estimates of the total
jets are believed to be kinetic flux-dominated. The mag- (kinetic + magnetic field) power, the synchrotron luminos-
netic field is believed to play an important role in accel- ity, and the maximum brightness temperature, Tb,max in
the jets can be made. The ratio of particle energy to mag-
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Very Long Baseline Array of National Radio Astronomy netic field energy can also be estimated, from the derived
Observatory, USA Tb,max . This enables testing the original Königl model and
3
http://www.physics.purdue.edu/MOJAVE several of its later modifications (e.g., Hutter & Mufson
4
http://www.bu.edu/blazars 1986; Bloom & Marscher 1996). The known distance from
 Andrei Lobanov: Physical properties of blazar jets from VLBI observations 3

the nucleus to the jet origin can also enable constrain- Physical conditions of the jet plasma can be assessed
ing the self-similar jet model (Marscher 1995) and the effectively by studying the spectral peak (turnover point)
particle-cascade model (Blandford & Levinson 1995). of the synchrotron emission. Mapping the turnover fre-
Studies of free-free absorption in AGN indicate the quency distribution provides a sensitive diagnostic of the
presence of dense, ionised circumnuclear material with plasma (Lobanov 1998b). Obviously, the observed mor-
Te ≈ 104 K distributed within a fraction of a parsec of phology and velocity of these flows are affected substan-
the central nucleus (Lobanov 1998a, Walker et al. 2000). tially by Doppler boosting, aberration, and time delays,
Properties of the circumnuclear material can also be stud- which makes uncovering true physical properties a non-
ied using the variability of the power index kr with fre- trivial task (Gomez et al. 1994, Cohen et al. 2007). As
quency. This variability results from pressure and den- a result, it becomes difficult to distinguish between ap-
sity gradients or absorption in the surrounding medium parent and true physical accelerations of the moving fea-
most likely associated with the broad-line region (BLR). tures (Lister et al. 2009) and making such a distinction
Changes of kr with frequency, if measured with required often requires a detailed physical modelling of a given jet
precision, can be used to estimate the size, particle den- component (Lobanov & Zensus 1999, Homan et al. 2003).
sity and temperature of the absorbing material surround- Similarly to stellar jets, rotation of the flow is expected
ing the jets. Estimates of the black hole mass and size of to be important for extragalactic jets (Fendt 1997), but
the BLR obtained from the core shift measurements can observational evidence remains very limited on this issue.
be compared with the respective estimates obtained from VLBI studies have demonstrated that relativistic
the reverberation mapping and applications of the Mbh – shocks are prominent in jets on parsec scales, which is
σ? relation. manifested by strong polarization (Ros et al. 2000) and
The non-thermal continuum radio emission from the rapid evolution of the turnover frequency of synchrotron
jet core does not appear to have strong shocks (Lobanov emission (Lobanov et al. 1997, Lobanov & Zensus 1999).
1998b), and its evolution and variability can be explained Evidence is growing for the presence of stationary features
by smooth changes in particle density of the flowing in parsec-scale flows, typically separated by ∼ 1 pc dis-
plasma, associated with the nuclear flares in the central tance from the jet core (Kellermann et al. 2004, Savolainen
engine (Lobanov & Zensus 1999). Compelling evidence ex- et al. 2006, Lister et al. 2009, Arshakian et al. 2010, León-
ists for acceleration (Vlahakis & Königl 2004, Bach et al. Tavares et al. 2010).
2005, Lee et al. 2008) and collimation (Junor et al. 1999, Specific geometric conditions and extremely small
Krichbaum et al. 2008) in the ultra-compact flows. viewing angles could lead to formation of stationary fea-
tures in relativistic flows (Alberdi et al. 2000). However,
The brightness temperature of the radio emission from
a more general and physically plausible explanation is
the cores reaches the inverse-Compton limit of ≈ 1012 K
offered by standing shocks (for instance, recollimation
(Unwin et al. 1997, Lobanov et al. 2000, Kovalev et al.
shocks in an initially over-pressurised outflow; Daly &
2005), while it drops rapidly to the equipartition limit
Marscher 1988, Gómez et al. 1995, Perucho & Martı́
of ≈ 5 × 1010 K in the jet components moving down-
2007). Such standing shocks may play a major role in ac-
stream from the core (Lähteenmäki et al. 1999, Lobanov
celerating particles near the base of the jet (Mandal &
et al. 2000, Homan et al. 2006). This supports earlier con-
Chakrabarti 2008, Becker et al. 2008), and could be re-
clusions that ultra-compact jets are particle-dominated,
sponsible for the persistent high levels of polarization in
while the plasma in moving jet components is likely to
blazars (D’Arcangelo et al. 2007, Marscher et al. 2008)).
be close to the equipartition (Unwin et al. 1997, Lobanov
More speculatively, the stationary features in jets could
1998a, Hirotani). Combining these calculations with esti-
also be the sites of continuum emission release due to
mates of the jet kinetic power provides strong indications
conversion from Poynting flux-dominated to kinetic flux-
that the relativistic fraction of the outflowing material is
dominated flow.
most likely represented by the electron-positron plasma
Complex evolution of the moving shocked regions is
(Reynolds et al. 1996, Hirotani et al. 2000, Hirotani 2005).
revealed in observations (Gomez et al. 2001, Jorstad et al.
2005, Lobanov & Zensus 1999) and numerical simulations
2.2. Parsec-scale flows: shocks and instabilities (Agudo et al. 2001) of parsec-scale outflows. However, the
shocks are shown to dissipate rapidly (Lobanov & Zensus
Parsec-scale outflows are characterised by pronounced 1999), and shock dominated regions are not likely to ex-
curvature of trajectories of superluminal components tend beyond ∼ 100 pc. Starting from these scales, instabil-
(Kellermann 2004, Lobanov & Zensus 1999), rapid ities (most importantly, Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, cf.,
changes of velocity and flux density (Lister et al. 2009) and Hardee 2000) determine at large the observed structure
predominantly transverse magnetic field 2005. Statistical and dynamics of extragalactic jets (Lobanov et al. 1998,
studies of speed and brightness temperature distributions Walker et al. 2001, Lobanov & Zensus 2001, Lobanov et
observed in the superluminal features propagating on par- al. 2003, Hardee et al. 2005, Perucho et al. 2006).
sec scales indicate that the jet population has an envelope The elliptical mode of the instability is responsible for
Lorentz factor of ≈ 30 and an un-beamed luminosity of appearance of thread-like features in the jet interior , while
∼ 1 × 1025 W Hz−1 (Cohen et al. 2007). overall oscillations of the jet ridge line are caused by the
4 Andrei Lobanov: Physical properties of blazar jets from VLBI observations

helical surface mode (Lobanov & Zensus 2001). Successful across the flow (Asada et al. 2002, Zavala & Taylor 2005,
attempts have been made to represent the observed bright- Attridge et al. 2005, Gomez et al. 2008).
ness distribution of radio emission on these scales, using Circular polarisation has been detected in a number
linear perturbation theory of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabil- of AGN jets (Homan & Lister 2006), with a typical level
ity (Lobanov & Zensus 2001, Lobanov et al. 2003, Hardee of polarisation of ≤0.5 %. The circular polarisation can
et al. 2005) and a spine-sheath (analogous to the two- be either intrinsic to the synchrotron emission (Legg &
fluid) description of relativistic flows (Canvin et al. 2005, Westfold 1968, implying the presence of a strong rela-
Laing & Bridle 2004). Non-linear evolution of the insta- tivistic proton component) or result from scintillations
bility (Perucho et al. 2004a, 2004b), stratification of the (Macquart & Melrose 2000), relativistic effects in disper-
flow (Perucho et al. 2005), and stabilisation of the flow sive plasma (Broderick & Blandford 2002) or Faraday con-
via magnetic field (Hardee 2007) are important for repro- version of linearly polarised synchrotron emission from
ducing the observed properties of jets. At larger scales, electron-positron plasma (Jones & O’Dell 1977). The ob-
the helical surface mode of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is served properties of circularly polarised emission in blazar
likely to be one of the most important factor for disrupt- jets support the last mechanism for its formation (Wardle
ing and destroying the outflows (Lobanov et al. 2003, 2006, et al. 1998, Homan & Lister 2006, Homan et al. 2009).
Perucho & Lobanov 2007). The strength of the magnetic field in blazar jets
is typically assessed by combining multi-band measure-
ments (Unwin et al. 1997), by deriving information about
2.3. Structure of the magnetic field
the peak in the synchrotron spectrum (Marscher 1983,
The structure of magnetic field in blazar jets can be as- Lobanov et al. 1997, Lobanov 1998b, Savolainen et al.
sessed with VLBI via linear (e.g., Lister & Homan 2005) 2008, Sokolovsky et al. 2010), or by using the opacity due
and circular polarisation (Homan & Lister 2006) measure- to synchrotron self-absorption (Lobanov 1998a). In most
ments. The ultra-compact jets (VLBI cores) are shown to objects, values around 1 G are obtained for the VLBI cores
be typically less than 5 % linearly polarised, with the po- and lower magnetic field is measured in the jets, all falling
larisation angle in BL Lac objects showing a stronger ten- well in agreement with magnetic field generation being ul-
dency to be aligned with the inner jet direction (Lister & timately processes in the magnetised accretion disk (Field
Homan 2005). The low degree of polarisation in the VLBI & Rogers 1993).
cores can be caused by a disordered magnetic field (Hughes
2005) or strong Faraday de-polarisation (Zavala & Taylor 2.4. Periodic changes of the structure
2004), or result from the “beam de-polarisation” if the
magnetic field in the cores is structured on scales much Structural changes are abound on milliarcsecond scales in
smaller than the resolution of the VLBI experiments. the blazar jets, enhanced and magnified by small viewing
The fractional linear polarisation in moving jet compo- angles and relativistic effects. In addition to extreme cur-
nents grows with increasing distance from the core (Lister vature observed in the jet ridge line of some objects (e.g.,
& Homan 2005), and the position angle of the polarisa- Polatidis et al. 1995), the position angle of the inner jet
tion vector is again better aligned with the jet direction (as traced by jet components nearest to the core) changes
in the BL Lac objects. At the same time, the linearly substantially both as a function of observing frequency
polarised emission in transversely resolved flows displays (Savolainen et al. 2006, Agudo et al. 2007) and in time
both strong rotation of the polarisation angle near the core (Mutel & Denn 2005, Lobanov & Roland 2005).
and remarkable edge brightening (e.g., Ros et al. 2000), The frequency dependent changes are most likely
with the polarisation vectors tending to be perpendicular caused by the opacity and spectral index gradients in the
to the jet direction. This indicates overall complexity and flow. The temporal variations of the position angle can re-
likely stratification of the magnetic field in the jets, with sult from precession and rotation of the flow (Camenzind
the internal part (“spine”) of the flow being dominated et al. 1992) as well as from the pattern motion of Kelvin-
by a helical magnetic field further compressed by rela- Helmholtz instability (Hardee 2003, Hardee et al. 2005),
tivistic shocks, while the external, slower moving layers in which case the motion should also be evident in long-
(“sheath”) of the flow could be dominated by a longitudi- term evolution of the ridge line of a flow (e.g., Krichbaum
nal magnetic field. This conclusion is in a good agreement et al. 2001).
with the turnover frequency distribution (Lobanov et al. Variations of the jet position angle, as well as the ob-
1997), internal structure (Lobanov & Zensus 2001), and served morphology of parsec-scale jets and trajectories of
transverse velocity stratification in the jets (Perucho et al. superluminal features propagating in the jets, are often
2006). Here again, the effect that the flow, and magnetic described in terms of a helical geometry (Steffen et al.
field, rotation (due to residual angular momentum inher- 1), with helicity supposed to be arising from some peri-
ited from the initial disk-to-jet coupling) remains difficult odic process in the nucleus. Jet precession, both in sin-
to assess. Presence of a strong toroidal or helical magnetic gle and binary black hole systems, have been commonly
field either in the spine or in the sheath has also been sought to be responsible for the observed helicity on par-
suggested from observations of Faraday rotation gradients sec scales. However, as the observed periods of the posi-
 Andrei Lobanov: Physical properties of blazar jets from VLBI observations 5

tion angle changes (and, similarly, periods inferred from (Hovatta et al. 2007). The flares are firmly associated with
the component trajectories and oscillations of the jet ridge ejections of new jet components (Valtaoja et al. 1999,
lines) are typically within a range of a few years, the Lobanov & Zensus 1999, Marscher et al. 2002, Chatterjee
precession-based models face severe difficulties (Lobanov et al. 2009), but the release of non-thermal continuum
& Roland 2005) as they require either allowing for ex- emission may not necessarily be restricted to the vicin-
tremely small (≤ 104 Rg ) orbital separations in supermas- ity of the black hole or even the radio core (Arshakian et
sive binary black holes or adopting an assumption that al. 2010, Leon-Tavares et al. 2010, Schinzel et al. 2010).
the jet direction responds exclusively to changes in the Detailed evolution of a flaring emission is best determined
innermost parts of the accretion disk and it is decoupled through variations of its turnover peak (Otterbein et al.
from the spin of the central black hole. In view of these 1998, Fromm et al. 2010) and can be further constrained
difficulties, rotation of the flow and pattern motion of the using observed kinematic properties of an emitting region
instability seem to be more viable alternatives. The preces- (Lobanov & Zensus 1999).
sion of the flows, evident on kiloparsec-scales (Gower et al. Quasi-periodic variability of the radio emission from
1982, Hardee et al. 1994) acts on much longer timescales the ultra-compact jets is most likely related to instabilities
(typically ≥ 104 yr), typically of several hundred years and non-stationary processes in the accretion disks around
and longer, and thus should only be visible in long-term central black holes in AGN (Igumenschev & Abramowicz
changes of the position angle of the entire milliarcsecond- 1999, Lobanov & Roland 2005. Alternative explanations
scale jet (Lobanov & Roland 2005). involve binary black hole systems in which flares are
caused by passages of the secondary through the accre-
3. Emission from blazar jets tion disk around the primary Ivanov et al. 1998, Lehto &
Valtonen 1996. Similarly to the attempts of using binary
VLBI observations enable tracing both temporal and spa- black holes to explain short-term morphological changes,
tial changes in radio emission from blazar jets, offering a these models require very tight binary systems, with or-
unique opportunity for connecting these changes to prop- bits of the secondary lying well within 104 Rg of the pri-
erties of the blazar emission observed in other wavelength mary, which poses inevitable problems for maintaining
domains and even localising spatially the dominant com- an accretion disk around the primary (for massive secon-
ponents in the broad-band emission. Emission from jets daries; Lobanov 2008) or rapid alignment of the secondary
may also contribute substantially to the broad-band SED with the plane of the accretion disk (for small secondaries;
(Yuan et al. 2002), alongside with the canonical contri- Ivanov et al. 1999).
butions from the accretion disk and hot material in the
vicinity of the central black hole. VLBI observations help
here enormously by providing an accurate measure of ra- 3.2. Blazar jets and broad-band continuum
dio emission produced in these regions and excluding con-
tributions from kiloparsec-scale jets and lobes of radio Relativistic flows are prominent emitters in all bands of
sources. the electromagnetic spectrum, generating optical and X-
ray emission even on kiloparsec scales (Schwartz et al.
2000, Marshall et al. 2002, Siemiginovska et al. 2002,
3.1. Parsec-scale radio emission Sambruna et al. 2008) and at TeV energies (Acciari et al.
Parsec-scale radio emission is variable on timescales from 2010). The jet plasma is believed to emit via synchrotron
decades (e.g., O’Dea et al. 1984, Asada et al. 2006) to emission in the radio to soft X-ray range and via inverse
hours (Savolainen & Kovalev 2008), with the longest Compton emission in the hard X-ray to TeV range (Acciari
timescales most likely related to large-scale changes in et al. 2010, Marscher et al. 2010). Contested is, however,
the nuclear region feeding the black hole, and the short- the primary source of the seed photons for the inverse
est timescales resulting from interstellar scintillations. The Compton part of the radiation. These could be the syn-
variability on hour-to-day timescales may also be related chrotron photons themselves (synchrotron self Compton
to “quasar QPO” type of variations recently observed in mechanism, SSC) or photons from an external radiation
the soft X-ray band (Gierlı́nski et al. 2008), remembering field located, for instance, in the accretion disc emission,
that if variability periods scale with the black hole mass, X-ray corona, the broad-line region, the infrared emitting
this would correspond to canonical QPO seen in X-ray torus and the cosmic background radiation (Ghisellini &
binaries at frequencies around 100 Hz. Tavecchio 2009).
On intermediate timescales (months-to-years), most Results from the first year of the Fermi/LAT opera-
of variable radio emission is believed to be associated tions have enabled most detailed studies of the connection
with flares in the VLBI cores (Lobanov & Zensus 1999) between relativistic flows and γ-ray production in blazars.
and shock evolution of plasma propagating downstream Early statistical comparisons of the properties of γ-ray
(Hughes et al. 1985, Marscher & Gear 1985, Marscher emission and compact radio jets in blazars indicate un-
1990). The radio flares last, on average, for 2.5 years equivocally that they are closely related (Pushkarev et
(at a wavelength of about 1 cm; Hovatta et al. 2008), al. 2009, Savolainen et al. 2010). Several of the γ-ray
and in many objects they are repeated quasi-periodically flares detected with Fermi/LAT can be associated with
6 Andrei Lobanov: Physical properties of blazar jets from VLBI observations

emission from accelerated plasma cloud embedded in the terial into the flow with instabilities in the inner accretion
jets (Marscher et al 2010, Schinzel et al. 2010), although disks.
detailed localisation of the γ-ray emitting sites remain In the coming years, new breakthroughs should be
elusive, clearly calling for continuation of extensive, co- coming in studies of relativistic jets and blazars, enriched
ordinated Fermi/LAT and VLBI campaigns. by Fermi/LAT results and by an effective use of the VLBI
There is now growing evidence for the broad-band con- potential for studies of blazars. There are several potential
tinuum (and its flaring components in particular) to be focal points for these studies.
produced at multiple locations in AGN (Arshakian et al. In particular, the jet composition remains an open is-
2010), with the emission in different bands dominated sue, in particular with regard to the role of relativistic
by contributions from spatially different regions (Leon- protons in high-energy emission production in extreme
Tavares 2010). These findings put an additional strain on vicinity of the central black holes (while it seems that
single-zone models commonly used for fitting the broad- pair plasma is chiefly responsible for the emission from
band SED in AGN. The situation with the quiescent (and parsec-scale jets).
slowly variable) component of the γ-ray emission is also Accurate spatial localisation of the sites of high-energy
puzzling, with indications that it may be produced in the continuum production will play a crucial role for modelling
region of the jet extending up to ∼10 pc (Schinzel et al. the broad-band SED of blazars and understanding their
2010). physical nature in general. To this end, variability of the
These results give a compelling indication that forma- high-energy continuum emission is best related to struc-
tion of jet components may correspond to the strongest tural and radiative changes in parsec-scale radio emission
nuclear events, while some of them may not survive a resolved by VLBI observations.
passage through a standing shock (Leon-Tavares et al. Last but not least, the continued observational quest
2010). The source of the continuum emission is localised for reaching ever closer to the regions where the relativis-
not only in the accretion disk (at the extreme vicinity of tic flows are formed will bring new answers not only about
the black hole) but also in the entire acceleration zone of the physical nature of relativistic flows, but also about the
the jet, with strong flares happening both near the cen- physical properties of black holes and their connection to
tral black hole and at a standing shock in the jet. Clearly, major manifestations of nuclear activity in galaxies. This
a more general and systematic study of relation between would be particular important for studies of the γ-ray
the radio, optical and X-ray emission in blazars is strongly and TeV emission from blazars, as this emission has all
justified, and co-ordinated VLBI–Fermi/LAT campaigns chances to come from the immediate vicinity of the cen-
would one of the prime methods for such studies. tral black holes in galaxies. Combination of high-energy
observations with VLBI extensive monitoring at centime-
tre wavelengths and focused, specific VLBI programs at
4. Outlook
millimetre wavelengths certainly has a quality of the tool
More than thirty years after their appearance on the sci- of choice for such studies.
entific scene, blazars remain one of the focal points of
extragalactic astrophysics. High-resolution radio observa-
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