Very High Energy Gamma-Rays from Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars: Observational Prospects with the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Abstract

Future Very High Energy (VHE, E>100 GeV) gamma-ray detection facilities (e.g. the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA)) will allow us to investigate the VHE regime behaviour of extragalactic objects such as blazars and its subclasses, BL Lac Objects and Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs). As such, this future ground-based facility will cast light upon an energy range beyond that of the Large Area Telescope (LAT) aboard the Fermi spacecraft, and also upon FSRQs, since current ground-based telescopes have mostly detected BL Lac objects. Given the existing data from the Fermi-LAT for a set of FSRQs, the present work is aimed at predicting not only the chances of detecting the sources in VHE gamma rays by considering their spectral shape, but also the existence of spectral cut-offs induced by pair-production with the Extragalactic Background Light (EBL). Data and results for the objects considered are presented, along with some conclusions.