A pair plasma model for PKS 0208-512

Abstract

Assuming that the enhanced MeV emission from the MeV blazar PKS 0208-512 observed by COMPTEL on occasions is due to annihilation in a pair plasma, we estimate parameters of the annihilation region: its size, the number density of particles, and the variability timescale. The values we find are in accord with our present-day knowledge of emission mechanisms operating in AGNs. The constructed model implies that the blueshifted annihilation emission is an intrinsic property of all AGN jet models, and predicts an anticorrelation between the high-energy emission and the annihilation flux.

4 pages including 4 figures, latex2e, uses epsfig.sty. A paper presented at the 3rd INTEGRAL Workshop "The Extreme Universe" (14-18 Sep. 1998, Taormina, Italy)