Plasmoids—magnetized quasi-circular structures formed self-consistently in reconnecting current sheets—were previously considered to be the graveyards of energetic particles. In this paper, we demonstrate the important role of plasmoids in shaping the particle energy spectrum in relativistic reconnection (i.e., with upstream magnetization σup ≫ 1). Using 2D particle-in-cell simulations in pair plasmas with σup = 10 and 100, we study a secondary particle energization process that takes place inside compressing plasmoids. We demonstrate that plasmoids grow in time, while their interiors compress, amplifying the internal magnetic field. The magnetic field felt by particles injected in an isolated plasmoid increases linearly with time, which leads to particle energization as a result of magnetic moment conservation. For particles injected with a power-law distribution function, this energization process acts in such a way that the shape of the injected power law is conserved, while producing an additional nonthermal tail f(E) ∝ E-3 at higher energies, followed by an exponential cutoff. The cutoff energy, which increases with time as ${E}_{\mathrm{cut}}\propto \sqrt{t}$ , can greatly exceed σupmec2. We analytically predict the secondary acceleration timescale and the shape of the emerging particle energy spectrum, which can be of major importance in certain astrophysical systems, such as blazar jets.

The exact mechanism for the production of fast γ-ray variability in blazars remains debated. Magnetic reconnection, in which plasmoids filled with relativistic particles and magnetic fields are formed, is a viable candidate to explain the broadband electromagnetic spectrum and variability of these objects. Using state-of-the-art magnetic reconnection simulations, we generate realistic γ-ray light curves that would be observed with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. A comparison with observed γ-ray flares from flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) reveals that magnetic reconnection events lead to comparable flux levels and variability patterns, in particular, when the reconnection layer is slightly misaligned with the line of sight. Emission from fast plasmoids moving close to the line of sight could explain the fast variability on the timescales of minutes for which evidence has been found in observations of FSRQs. Our results motivate improvements in existing radiative transfer simulations as well as dedicated searches for fast variability as evidence for magnetic reconnection events.

The detection of a high-energy neutrino from the flaring blazar TXS 0506+056 and the subsequent discovery of a neutrino excess from the same direction have strengthened the hypothesis that blazars are cosmic neutrino sources. The lack, however, of γ-ray flaring activity during the latter period challenges the standard scenario of correlated γ-ray and high-energy neutrino emission in blazars. We propose instead that TeV-PeV neutrinos are produced in coincidence with X-ray flares that are powered by proton synchrotron radiation. In this case, neutrinos are produced by photomeson interactions of protons with their own synchrotron radiation, while MeV to GeV γ-rays are the result of synchrotron-dominated electromagnetic cascades developed in the source. Using a time-dependent approach, we find that this "pure hadronic flaring" hypothesis has several interesting consequences. The X-ray flux is a good proxy for the all-flavor neutrino flux, while certain neutrino-rich X-ray flares may be dark in GeV-TeV γ-rays. Lastly, hadronic X-ray flares are accompanied by an equally bright MeV component that is detectable by proposed missions like e-ASTROGAM and AMEGO. We applied this scenario to the extreme blazar 3HSP J095507.9+355101 which has been associated with IceCube-200107A while undergoing an X-ray flare. We showed that the number of muon and anti-muon neutrinos above 100 TeV during hadronic flares can be up to ∼3-10 times higher than the expected number in standard leptohadronic models. Still, frequent hadronic flaring activity is necessary for explaining the detected neutrino event IceCube-200107A.

On July 30th, 2019 IceCube detected a high-energy astrophysical muon neutrino candidate, IC-190730A with a 67% probability of astrophysical origin. The flat spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ) PKS 1502 +106 is in the error circle of the neutrino. Motivated by this observation, we study PKS 1502+106 as a possible source of IC-190730A. PKS 1502+106 was in a quiet state in terms of UV/optical/X-ray/γ-ray flux at the time of the neutrino alert, we therefore model the expected neutrino emission from the source during its average long-term state, and investigate whether the emission of IC-190730A as a result of the quiet long-term emission of PKS 1502+106 is plausible. We analyse UV/optical and X-ray data and collect additional observations from the literature to construct the multi-wavelength spectral energy distribution of PKS 1502+106. We perform leptohadronic modelling of the multi-wavelength emission of the source and determine the most plausible emission scenarios and the maximum expected accompanying neutrino flux. A model in which the multi-wavelength emission of PKS 1502+106 originates beyond the broad-line region and inside the dust torus is most consistent with the observations. In this scenario, PKS 1502+106 can have produced up to of order one muon neutrino with energy exceeding 100 TeV in the lifetime of IceCube. An appealing feature of this model is that the required proton luminosity is consistent with the average required proton luminosity if blazars power the observed ultra-high-energy-cosmic-ray flux and well below the source's Eddington luminosity. If such a model is ubiquitous among FSRQs, additional neutrinos can be expected from other bright sources with energy ≳ 10 PeV.

Decade-long monitoring of blazars at optical and infrared (OIR) wavelengths with the Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System (SMARTS) in Chile and in γ-rays with the Fermi -Large Area Telescope (LAT) has enabled the systematic study of their multiwavelength long-term variability. In this work, we investigate, from a theoretical perspective, the long-term variability properties of blazar emission by introducing an observationally motivated time-dependence to four main parameters of the one-zone leptonic model: injection luminosity of relativistic electrons, strength of magnetic field, Doppler factor, and external photon field luminosity. For the first time, we use both the probability density function and the power spectral density of the 10-yr-long Fermi-LAT light curves to create variation patterns for the model parameters. Using as test beds two bright blazars from the SMARTS sample (PKS 2155-304 and 3C 273), we compute 10-yr-long OIR, X-ray, and γ-ray model light curves for different varying parameters. We compare the findings of our theoretical investigation with multiwavelength observations using various measures of variability. While no single-varying parameter simulation can explain all multiwavelength variability properties, changes in the electron luminosity and external radiation field in PKS 2155-304 and 3C 273, respectively, can account for most of them. Our results motivate future time-dependent studies with coupling between two or more physical parameters to describe the multiwavelength long-term blazar variability.

A small fraction of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with available data down to soft X-rays (~0.5 keV) has been shown to feature a spectral break in the low-energy part (~1-10 keV) of their prompt emission spectrum. The overall spectral shape is consistent with optically thin synchrotron emission from a population of particles that have cooled on a time-scale comparable to the dynamic time to energies that are still much higher than their rest-mass energy (marginally fast cooling regime). We consider a hadronic scenario and investigate if the prompt emission of these GRBs can originate from relativistic protons that radiate synchrotron in the marginally fast cooling regime. Using semi-analytical methods, we derive the source parameters, such as magnetic field strength and proton luminosity, and calculate the high-energy neutrino emission expected in this scenario. We also investigate how the emission of secondary pairs produced by photopion interactions and γγ pair production affect the broad-band photon spectrum. We support our findings with detailed numerical calculations. Strong modification of the photon spectrum below the break energy due to the synchrotron emission of secondary pairs is found, unless the bulk Lorentz factor is very large (Γ ≳ 103). Moreover, this scenario predicts unreasonably high Poynting luminosities because of the strong magnetic fields (106-107 G) that are necessary for the incomplete proton cooling. Our results strongly disfavour marginally fast cooling protons as an explanation of the low-energy spectral break in the prompt GRB spectra.

Long duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are among the least understood astrophysical transients powering the high-energy universe. To date, various mechanisms have been proposed to explain the observed electromagnetic GRB emission. In this work, we show that, although different jet models may be equally successful in fitting the observed electromagnetic spectral energy distributions, the neutrino production strongly depends on the adopted emission and dissipation model. To this purpose, we compute the neutrino production for a benchmark high-luminosity GRB in the internal shock model, including a dissipative photosphere as well as three emission components, in the jet model invoking internal-collision-induced magnetic reconnection and turbulence (ICMART), in the case of a magnetic jet with gradual dissipation, and in a jet with dominant proton synchrotron radiation. We find that the expected neutrino fluence can vary up to three orders of magnitude in amplitude and peak at energies ranging from 104 to 108 GeV. For our benchmark input parameters, none of the explored GRB models is excluded by the targeted searches carried out by the IceCube and ANTARES Collaborations. However, our work highlights the potential of high-energy neutrinos of pinpointing the underlying GRB emission mechanism and the importance of relying on different jet models for unbiased stacking searches.