Modeling the variability of the BL Lacertae object PKS 2155-304

Abstract

The bright X-ray selected BL Lacertae object PKS 2155-304 has been the target of two intense multiwavelength campaigns, in November 1991 and in May 1994. Although the spectral energy distributions at both epochs were quite similar, the source exhibited two very distinct variability patterns that cannot be easily reconciled with homogeneous, one-zone jet models. During the first epoch the variability was almost achromatic in amplitude, with a time lag between X-rays and UV of $\approx 3$ h, while during the second epoch the variability amplitude increased as a function of wavelength, with the EUV flare peaking $\approx 1$ day after the X-ray flare. We model the source using a time-dependent inhomogeneous accelerating jet model. e reproduce the general characteristics of the different variability signatures by assuming that plasma disturbances with different physical properties propagate downstream in an underlying jet characterized by the same set of physical parameters at both epochs. A time delay of $\approx$ 1 day between the hardening of the UV spectral index and the UV flux, present at both epochs, is modeled with stochastic fluctuations in the particle acceleration manifested through small variations of the maximum energy of the injected electrons. We predict that similar time delays will be present in future observations, even in the absence of strong variability events. We stress the importance of observations at neighboring frequencies as a diagnostic tool for the structure of the quiescent jet in blazars, especially in the seemingly dull case when strong variability is absent.