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| Paper: |
Synchrotron X-ray Emission from Flat-spectrum Radio Quasars |
| Volume: |
299, High Energy Blazar Astronomy |
| Page: |
63 |
| Authors: |
Padovani, P.; Costamante, L.; Ghisellini, G.; Giommi, P.; Perlman, E. |
| Abstract: |
We present new BeppoSAX observations of four flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQ) with spectral energy distributions similar to those of high-energy peaked BL Lacs. In one of our sources the BeppoSAX band is dominated by synchrotron emission peaking at ∼ 2 × 1016 Hz, as also shown by its steep (energy index αx ∼ 1.5) spectrum. This makes this object the first known FSRQ whose X-ray emission is not due to inverse Compton radiation. Two other sources display a flat X-ray spectrum (αx ∼ 0.7) but with indications of steepening at low energies. In these objects, the combination of BeppoSAX and ROSAT observations, (non-simultaneous) multifrequency data, and a synchrotron inverse Compton model suggests synchrotron peak frequencies ≈ 1015 Hz, although a better coverage of the spectral energy distributions is needed to provide firmer values. Our sources, although firmly in the radio-loud regime, have powers more typical of high-energy peaked BL Lacs than of FSRQ, and indeed their radio powers put them near the low-luminosity end of the FSRQ luminosity function. We discuss this in terms of an anti-correlation between synchrotron peak frequency and total power, based on physical arguments, and also as possibly due to a selection effect. |
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