Accretion onto supermassive black holes in some active galactic nuclei (AGN) drives relativistic plasma jets, dissipating a significant portion of their kinetic energy into gamma-ray radiation. This paper investigates the location of this energy dissipation, using a novel diagnostic called the "seed factor." Analyzing 62 multiwavelength spectral energy distributions of gamma-ray quasars, the study finds that the molecular torus, located approximately 1 parsec from the black hole, is the dominant location for energy dissipation in powerful jets.

Adam Leah W. Harvey, Markos Georganopoulos, Eileen T. Meyer