Predictions of ECS and SSC models for flux-limited samples of gamma-ray blazars

The external Compton scattering (ECS) and synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) mo dels make distinct predictions for the amount of Doppler boosting of high-e nergy gamma-rays emitted by blazars. We examine how these differences affec t the predicted properties of AGN samples selected on the basis of gamma-ra y emission. We create simulated flux-limited samples based on the ECS and S SC models, and compare their properties to those of identified EGRET blazar s. We find that for small gamma-ray-selected samples, the two models make v ery similar predictions, and cannot be reliably distinguished. This is prim arily due to the fact that not only the Doppler factor, but also the cosmol ogical distance and intrinsic luminosity play a role in determining whether an AGN is included in a flux-limited gamma-ray sample. (C) 1999 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.