Spectral State Switching in Mrk 421 Observed by AstroSat
Analysis
This paper presents a detailed X-ray spectral analysis of the blazar Mrk 421 using AstroSat observations. The study reveals flux variability and identifies two dominant spectral states, providing insights into the source's behavior and potentially supporting a leptonic synchrotron framework. The use of simultaneous observations and time-resolved spectroscopy strengthens the analysis.
Key Takeaways
- •Mrk 421 exhibits significant flux variability in the observed X-ray bands.
- •The source displays two dominant spectral states, indicated by the clustering of the low-energy particle index.
- •The spectral behavior is well-described by a synchrotron-convolved broken power-law model.
- •The findings support a leptonic synchrotron framework for explaining the observed spectral state switching.
Reference
“The low-energy particle index is found to cluster around two discrete values across flux states indicating two spectra states in the source.”