X-ray spectral curvature of high-frequency-peaked BL Lac objects: A predictor for the TeV flux

Abstract

Most of the extragalactic sources detected atTeV energies are BL Lac objects. They belong to the subclass of high-frequency-peaked BL Lac objects (HBLs) exhibiting spectral energy distributions with a lower energy peak in the X-ray band; this is widely interpreted as synchrotron emission from relativistic electrons. The X-ray spectra are generally curved and well described in terms of a log-parabolic shape. In a previous investigation ofTeV HBLs (TBLs) we found two correlations between their spectral parameters. (1) The synchrotron peak luminosity Lp increases with its peak energy Ep and (2) the curvature parameter b decreases as Ep increases. The first is consistent with the synchrotron scenario, while the second is expected from statistical/stochastic acceleration mechanisms for the emitting electrons. Here, we present an extensive X-ray analysis of a sample of HBLs observed with XMM-Newton and Swift but undetected atTeV energies (UBLs), to compare their spectral behavior with that of TBLs. Investigating the distributions of their spectral parameters and comparing the TBL X-ray spectra with that of UBLs, we develop a criterion to select the best HBL candidates for futureTeV observations. © 2011 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.