MARMOT is a program to study the origin of gamma-ray emission in blazar jets using multiwavelength observations at radio, millimeter, optical and gamma-ray bands. CARMA observations of 16 blazars are obtained weekly at 3 mm and combined with centimeter band 15 GHz observations using the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) 40 m telescope.

Densely sampled 3 mm observations are crucial because, unlike the centimeter band, the emission is typically optically thin and allows us to probe deeper into the jets and study the innermost regions. These observations, combined with gamma-ray data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, will provide data for testing and refining theoretical models of AGN jets and allow us to distinguish between two gamma-ray production models where the emission is occurring either close to the central engine or in the parsec-scale jets. Optical polarization data (available starting spring 2013) will be used as an additional probe for the location of the gamma-ray flares.

Additionally, we will gain understanding in the general variability properties of blazars at millimeter wavelengths which has not been possible due to typically sparse sampling at these wavelengths. Furthermore the observations will be used in multiwavelength campaigns where the spectral energy distributions of the sources are modeled in detail, enabling us to distinguish between different high-energy emission mechanisms.

CARMA data reduction is now complete. Please see the data page for more information.