THE EVOLUTION OF GAMMA-RAY LOUD ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

During the period from the launch of the Compton Observatory in 1991 A pril through 1993 September, the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telesc ope (EGRET) has detected, with high significance (> 5 sigma), 33 blata r-type QSOs which are sources of high-energy gamma-rays and another ei ght which show strong evidence for high-energy gamma-ray emission. Man y of the gamma-ray loud blazars have redshifts z similar to 1 with the most distant source having a redshift of z = 2.2. The V/V-max test ha s been applied to the sample of gamma-ray loud AGNs seen during the ph ase I and II observing periods, and evidence for the evolution of thes e sources consistent with pure luminosity evolution is presented. The effects of observational biases due to gamma-ray flux-detection limits and optical identifications are considered. Using the V-e/V-a test, w e find the parameters describing the evolution, and by de-evolving the sample, we make an estimate of the luminosity function of these objec ts. Finally, using this luminosity function, we make an estimate of th e gamma-ray loud AGN contribution to the diffuse extragalactic emissio n.