Analysis of Parsec-Scale Jet Behavior of a Sample of Blazars during High Gamma-Ray States

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We present total and polarized intensity images at ultra-high resolution (0.1 milliarcseconds) of a sample of 33 gamma-ray blazars obtained monthly with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at 43 GHz, starting in Summer 2008 when the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope began to operate. The VLBA observations determine the flux and polarization of the millimeter-wave core and other components of the jet, as well as the kinematics and evolution of bright superluminal knots. We compare the gamma-ray light curves of the blazars, constructed with data provided by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, with flux and polarization variations in the VLBI core and bright superluminal knots. For all blazars in the sample that exhibit a high gamma-ray state on time scales from several weeks to several months, an increase of the total flux in the mm-wave core is contemporaneous with the gamma-ray activity (more than a third of the sample). In addition, a maximum of the degree of polarization in the core or bright superluminal knot nearest to the core occurs at the same time as the gamma-ray peak to within the accuracy of the sampling of the radio data. We discuss the locations in the jet where high gamma-ray fluxes occur, as well as the physical processes leading to luminous gamma-ray emission in blazars.
This research is funded in part by NASA through Fermi Guest Investigator grants NNX08AV65G, NNX08AV61G, NNX09AT99G, and NNX10AU15G, and by the National Science Foundation through grant AST-0907893.

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