Department - Author 1
Physics Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Physics
Date
8-2012
Primary Advisor
Luis Reyes
Abstract/Summary
In this thesis we take astronomical multi-wavelength data from nearby blazars Markarian 421 and Markarian 501 and perform computational analysis and correlative studies to determine any possible time lag across different bands of our targets as well as to measure the statistical significance of this calculated result. The data was taken over the interval of December 2010 to May 2012 from multiple instruments spanning a broad range of wavelengths. We used the Discrete Correlation Function (DCF) to determine the time lag factor across data set pairs, focusing on X-ray and Very-High-Energy (VHE; >100 GeV) data. To establish the significance of any correlations found this way, we create Monte Carlo data sets matching the parameters from each light curve’s power spectrum distribution, and compare results to our original data. The calculated time lag for Markarian 421 is 2 ± 5 days, consistent with our originally hypothesized zero time lag, indicating the dominant emission process for this target is synchrotron self-compton (SSC). Markarian 501’s data provides less resolution but also contains zero time lag within its range of error, consistent with our expectation.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/physsp/118