Blazar spectral models generally have numerous unconstrained parameters, leading to ambiguous values for physical properties like Doppler factor δD or fluid magnetic field B'. To help remedy this problem, a few modifications of the standard leptonic blazar jet scenario are considered. First, a log-parabola function for the electron distribution is used. Second, analytic expressions relating energy loss and kinematics to blazar luminosity and variability, written in terms of equipartition parameters, imply δD, B', and the peak electron Lorentz factor . The external radiation field in a blazar is approximated by Lyα radiation from the broad-line region (BLR) and ≈0.1?eV infrared radiation from a dusty torus. When used to model 3C 279 spectral energy distributions from 2008 and 2009 reported by Hayashida et al., we derive δD ~ 20-30, B' ~ few G, and total (IR + BLR) external radiation field energy densities u ~ 10–2-10–3?erg?cm–3, implying an origin of the γ-ray emission site in 3C 279 at the outer edges of the BLR. This is consistent with the γ-ray emission site being located at a distance R Γ2 ct var ~ 0.1(Γ/30)2(t var/104 s)?pc from the black hole powering 3C 279's jets, where t var is the variability timescale of the radiation in the source frame, and at farther distances for narrow-jet and magnetic-reconnection models. Excess 5?GeV γ-ray emission observed with Fermi LAT from 3C 279 challenges the model, opening the possibility of a second leptonic component or a hadronic origin of the emission. For low hadronic content, absolute jet powers of ≈10% of the Eddington luminosity are calculated.
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