EGRET SPECTRAL INDEX AND THE LOW-ENERGY PEAK POSITION IN THE SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTION OF EGRET-DETECTED BLAZARS

摘要

In current theoretical models of the blazar subclass of active galaxies, the broadband emission consists of two components a low-frequency synchrotron component with a peak in the iR to X-ray band and a high-frequency inverse Compton component with a peak in the gamma-ray band. In such models, the gamma-ray spectral index should be correlated with the location of the low-energy peak, with flatter gamma-ray spectra expected for blaxars with synchrotron peaks at higher photon energies and vice versa. Using the EGRET-detected blasars as a sample, we examine this correlation and possible uncer- tainties in its construction.