Two Repeated Transient Quasiperiodic Oscillations in the γ-Ray Emission from the Blazar 3C 279

Abstract

Abstract In this work, we report for the first time two repeated transient quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs) in the γ-ray light curve of the TeV blazar 3C 279. We search for the periodicity in the light curve and estimate its confidence level using the weighted wavelet Z-transform, the Lomb–Scargle periodogram, and the REDFIT techniques. The main results are as follows: (1) a QPO of ∼33 days (>2.5σ) is found during the flare of 117 days (MJD 55008–55125) from 2009 June to November. Interestingly, the same QPO (∼39 days) reappeared in the flaring duration from MJD 59430 to 59585, with the confidence level of >4σ. (2) Another transient QPO of ∼91 days with a significance of >3.8σ is found during a period with 455 days (MJD 58430–58985) from 2019 February to 2020 May. Under the premise of considering the QPOs reported in the literature, the QPO of ∼40 days is repeated three times and the QPO of ∼91 days is repeated twice. We discuss several physical models explaining the QPOs of this blazar. Our study may suggest that the two QPOs originate from the twin jets of the binary black holes at the center of 3C 279. The repeated occurrence of QPOs of a similar scale strongly supports the geometric scenario of a blob spiraling within the jet. Furthermore, the hypothesis of a sheath in the jet may also be a potential explanation for the repetitive γ-ray flare patterns observed in the light curve.