We present a comprehensive 5–43 GHz VLBA study of the blazar 3C 273 initiated after an onset of a strong γ -ray flare in this source. We have analysed the kinematics of newborn components, light curves and position of the apparent core to pinpoint the location of the γ -ray emission. Estimated location of the γ -ray emission zone is close to the jet apex, 2–7 pc upstream from the observed 7 mm core. This is supported by ejection of a new component. The apparent core position was found to be inversely proportional to frequency. The brightness temperature in the 7 mm core reached values up to at least 1013 K during the flare. This supports the dominance of particle energy density over that of magnetic field in the 7 mm core. Particle density increased during the radio flare at the apparent jet base, affecting synchrotron opacity. This manifested itself as an apparent core shuttle along the jet during the 7 mm flare. It is also shown that a region where optical depth decreases from τ 1 to τ ≪ 1 spans over several parsecs along the jet. The jet bulk flow speed estimated at the level of 12c on the basis of time lags between 7 mm light curves of stationary jet features is 1.5 times higher than that derived from very long baseline interferometry apparent kinematics analysis.
CITATION STYLE
Lisakov, M. M., Kovalev, Y. Y., Savolainen, T., Hovatta, T., & Kutkin, A. M. (2017). A connection between γ -ray and parsec-scale radio flares in the blazar 3C 273. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 468(4), 4478–4493. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx710
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