Speaker: Prof. Wei Cui (Purdue University)

Title: Rapid Gamma Ray Flaring in Active Galactic Nuclei

Location: 3rd floor, middle conference room

Time: 2:00pm, July 17 (Tuesday)

Abstract

Gamma-ray-emitting active galactic nuclei (AGN) are characterized by variability on a wide range of timescales across nearly the entire electromagnetic spectrum. This is an indication of the dominant role that the jet plays in radiation production. The variability provides a valuable tool to study, in a relatively model-independent way, the emission processes and geometry as well as the energetics of the jet in AGN, not so different from the study of gamma ray bursts. In this talk, I will show recent discoveries of rapid gamma-ray flaring in blazars and discuss the challenges the phenomenon presents to our theoretical understanding of very-high-energy gamma ray production in the jet of AGN.
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