Submillimeter Variability and the Gamma-ray Connection in Fermi Blazars
  We present multi-epoch observations from the Submillimeter Array (SMA) for a
sample of 171 bright blazars, 43 of which were detected by Fermi during the
first three months of observations. We explore the correlation between their
gamma-ray properties and submillimeter observations of their parsec-scale jets,
with a special emphasis on spectral index in both bands and the variability of
the synchrotron component. Subclass is determined using a combination of Fermi
designation and the Candidate Gamma-Ray Blazar Survey (CGRaBS), resulting in 35
BL Lac objects and 136 flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) in our total sample.
We calculate submillimeter energy spectral indices using contemporaneous
observations in the 1 mm and 850 micron bands during the months August-October
2008. The submillimeter light curves are modeled as first-order continuous
autoregressive processes, from which we derive characteristic timescales. Our
blazar sample exhibits no differences in submillimeter variability amplitude or
characteristic timescale as a function of subclass or luminosity. All of the
the light curves are consistent with being produced by a single process that
accounts for both low and high states, and there is additional evidence that
objects may be transitioning between blazar class during flaring epochs.
