Broad Line Radio Galaxies Observed with Fermi-LAT: The Origin of the GeV Gamma-Ray Emission

We report on a detailed investigation of the γ-ray emission from 18 broad line radio galaxies (BLRGs) base d on two years ofFermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) data. We confirm the previously re po ted detections of 3C 120 and 3C 111 in the GeV photon energy range; a detailed loo k at the temporal characteristics of the observedγ-ray emission reveals in addition possible flux variability in both sources. No statistically significant γ-ray detection of the other BLRGs was however found in the con sidered dataset. Though the sample size studied is small, what appears to differentiate 3C 111 and 3C 120 from the BLRGs not yet detected in γrays is the particularly strong nuclear radio flux. This findi g, together with the indications of the γ-ray flux variability and a number of other arguments presented, indi cate that the GeV emission of BLRGs is most likely dominated by the beamed radiation of relativistic jets obse rved at intermediate viewing angles. In this paper we also analyzed a comparison sample of high accretion-rate Se yfert 1 galaxies, which can be considered radioquiet counterparts of BLRGs, and found none were detected in γ-rays. A simple phenomenological hybrid model applied for the broad-band emission of the discussed r adio-loud and radio-quiet type 1 active galaxies suggests that the relative contribution of the nuclear jets to he accreting matter is ≥ 1% on average for BLRGs, whilst ≤ 0.1% for Seyfert 1 galaxies. Subject headings: radiation mechanisms: non-thermal — galaxies: active — gal axies: individual (3C 111, 3C 120) — galaxies: jets — gamma rays: galaxies — X-rays: gala xies