First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. V. Physical Origin of the Asymmetric Ring
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Abstract
Abstract The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has mapped the central compact radio source of the elliptical galaxy M87 at 1.3 mm with unprecedented angular resolution. Here we consider the physical implications of the asymmetric ring seen in the 2017 EHT data. To this end, we construct a large library of models based on general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations and synthetic images produced by general relativistic ray tracing. We compare the observed visibilities with this library and confirm that the asymmetric ring is consistent with earlier predictions of strong gravitational lensing of synchrotron emission from a hot plasma orbiting near the black hole event horizon. The ring radius and ring asymmetry depend on black hole mass and spin, respectively, and both are therefore expected to be stable when observed in future EHT campaigns. Overall, the observed image is consistent with expectations for the shadow of a spinning Kerr black hole as predicted by general relativity. If the black hole spin and M87’s large scale jet are aligned, then the black hole spin vector is pointed away from Earth. Models in our library of non-spinning black holes are inconsistent with the observations as they do not produce sufficiently powerful jets. At the same time, in those models that produce a sufficiently powerful jet, the latter is powered by extraction of black hole spin energy through mechanisms akin to the Blandford-Znajek process. We briefly consider alternatives to a black hole for the central compact object. Analysis of existing EHT polarization data and data taken simultaneously at other wavelengths will soon enable new tests of the GRMHD models, as will future EHT campaigns at 230 and 345 GHz.
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The record
- Venue
- The Astrophysical Journal Letters
- Topic
- Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
- Field
- Physics and Astronomy
- Canadian institutions
- McGill UniversityCanadian Institute for Theoretical AstrophysicsCanadian Institute for Advanced ResearchUniversity of TorontoPerimeter InstituteUniversity of Waterloo
- Funders
- Los Alamos National LaboratoryOffice of International Science and EngineeringNational Key Research and Development Program of ChinaComisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y TecnológicaJapan Society for the Promotion of ScienceNational Nuclear Security AdministrationToray Science FoundationInstitut Périmètre de physique théoriqueRecruitment Program of Global ExpertsKorea Astronomy and Space Science InstituteMinistero dello Sviluppo EconomicoAcademy of FinlandMax-Planck-GesellschaftCentre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Research Foundation of KoreaUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and TechnologyJohn Templeton FoundationChina Scholarship CouncilMinisterio de Economía y CompetitividadEuropean Southern ObservatoryMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovación y UniversidadesNuclear Safety and Security CommissionGeneralitat ValencianaInstituto de Astrofísica de AndalucíaNederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk OnderzoekChinese Academy of SciencesAcademia SinicaNational Research FoundationInstituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y ElectrónicaCompute CanadaJoint Institute for Computational Fundamental ScienceUniversity of ArizonaSmithsonian InstitutionInternational Max Planck Research School for Environmental, Cellular and Molecular MicrobiologyInnovation, Science and Economic Development CanadaCanadian Institute for Advanced ResearchNational Astronomical Observatory of JapanAssociated UniversitiesDirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoConsejo Nacional de Ciencia y TecnologíaUniversity of ChicagoFonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologiesVetenskapsrådetU.S. Department of EnergyKavli FoundationEuropean CommissionLeverhulme TrustNational Radio Astronomy ObservatoryHarvard UniversityNational Institutes of Natural SciencesGovernment of CanadaNational Aeronautics and Space AdministrationIstituto Nazionale di Fisica NucleareDepartment of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, IndiaRussian Science FoundationGordon and Betty Moore FoundationNational Science Foundation
- Keywords
- PhysicsEvent horizonBlack hole (networking)Supermassive black holeAstrophysicsSchwarzschild radiusKerr metricRotating black holeBinary black holeSpin-flipAstrophysical jetStellar black holeGeneral relativityActive galactic nucleusGalaxyAstronomyAccretion (finance)Theoretical physicsEvent (particle physics)Gravitational wave
- Has abstract in OpenAlex
- yes