Rest Frame Variability Characteristics of the Blazars BL Lacertae, AO
0235+164, and PKS 1633+382

John Mc Farland
Thursday, June 9th 2004 at 11:30am


Blazars exhibit the most extreme variability of the class of objects known
as active galactic nuclei (AGN).  They are characterized by a featureless
continuum, high polarization, and variability at all wavelengths and
timescales.  These characteristics are consistent with a supermassive
black hole accreting matter at the heart of the host galaxy.  I have
investigated the character of the variability of these three blazars
(which have very different redshifts) using several different analytical
approaches; i.e. structure function analysis, variability index analysis,
and construction of simple light curves.  By transforming observed
measurements into the rest frame of the object, the intrinsic properties
of the variability can be compared. These variability characteristics of
blazars, as seen in their rest frame, and as a function of state, will be
discussed in addition to their general characteristics and classification
schemes.