We study the applicability of the idea of internal absorption of γ -rays produced through synchrotron radiation of ultrarelativistic protons in highly magnetized blobs to 1ES 0229+200 and 3C 66A, the two TeV blazars which show unusually hard intrinsic γ -ray spectra after being corrected for the intergalactic absorption. We show that for certain combinations of reasonable model parameters, even with quite modest energy requirements, the scenario allows a self-consistent explanation of the non-thermal emission of these objects in the keV, GeV, and TeV energy bands.
Blazars are effective emitters of γ-rays with spectra extending to GeV and TeV energies. In the case of distant TeV blazars, γ-rays undergo severe absorption due to interactions with diffuse intergalactic radiation fields resulting in significant deformations of the initial (source) spectra. Even for the lowest possible level of the Extragalactic Background Light (EBL), the absorption-corrected γ-ray spectra from some TeV blazars appear unusually hard, which cannot be explained within the standard particle acceleration models of blazars. The simplest and most natural solution of this problem seems to us the realization of internal absorption of γ-rays in narrow (e.g. Planckian type) radiation fields in the immediate vicinity of the γ-ray production region.
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