Signatures of scale-free dynamics in blazar gamma-ray flares

Blazars are the most populated class of GeV γ-ray sources. The γ-ray light curves of blazars exhibit multiple structures that in most cases appear to be randomly distributed. It is important to study these highly complex light curves to provide insight into the physical origins of this irregular behavior. The -LAT light-curve repository provides valuable data for studying the complexity of blazar signals. This paper uses these light curves to parametrically characterize flares, and it systematically studies the distributions of the extracted parameters. Fermi The recursive temporal segmentation of these light curves results in a catalog of hierarchically augmented -LAT flares. This study investigates whether the observed distributions of the parameters are consistent with theoretically motivated expectations. Fermi The distributions of flare duration and waiting time derived from a large sample of blazars appear to follow hard power laws, consistent with scale-invariant behavior. This behavior may be analogous to self-organized criticality, with flares emerging naturally as distinct structures. This perspective helps us to explain why their timing and evolution are difficult to predict. The hierarchical analysis of the γ-ray flaring activity of the blazar TXS 0506+056 quantifies the probability of an association between the bright flare and the neutrino event IC170922A. This study provides public access to the catalog of blazar flares.