Multiwavelength properties of blazars

Blazar spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are double peaked and follow a self-similar sequence in luminosity. The so-called "blue" blazars, whose first SED component peaks at X-ray energies, are TeV sources, although with a relatively small fraction of their bolometric luminosities. The "red" blazars, with SED peaks in the infrared-optical range, appear to emit relatively more power in the gamma-ray component but at much lower energies (GeV and below). Correlated variations across the SEDs (of both types) are consistent with the picture that a single electron population gives rise to the high-energy parts of both SED components, via synchrotron at low energies and Compton-scattering at high energies. In this scenario, the trends of SED shape with luminosity can be explained by electron cooling on ambient photons. With simple assumptions, we can make some estimates of the physical conditions in blazar jets of each "type" and can predict which blazars are the most likely TeV sources. Upper limits from a mini-survey of candidate TeV sources indicate that only similar to 10% of their bolometric luminosity is radiated in gamma-rays, assuming the two SED components peak near 1 keV and 1 TeV. Finally, present blazar samples are too shallow to indicate what kinds of jets nature prefers, i.e., whether the low-luminosity "blue" blazars or the high-luminosity "red" blazars are more common. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.