Imaging thick accretion disks and jets surrounding black holes

Imaging thick accretion disks and jets surrounding black holes

26 Apr 2024 | Zhenyu Zhang, Yehui Hou, Minyong Guo, Bin Chen
This paper investigates the millimeter-wave images of geometrically thick accretion disks and funnel walls surrounding a Kerr black hole, using a horizon-scale magnetofluid model. The authors solve the null geodesic and radiative transfer equations numerically to obtain the optical appearances at various observational angles and frequencies, generated by thermal synchrotron radiation within the magnetofluid. For the thick disk, they examine the impact of emission anisotropy on images, finding that anisotropic synchrotron radiation significantly enhances the observability of the photon ring. For the funnel wall, they find that both outflow and inflow funnel walls exhibit annular structures on the imaging plane, with the outflow funnel wall yielding a brighter primary image than the photon ring. The study concludes that the inflow funnel wall model cannot be ruled out by current observations of M87*. The paper also discusses the limitations of the analytical model and suggests future directions for improving its accuracy.This paper investigates the millimeter-wave images of geometrically thick accretion disks and funnel walls surrounding a Kerr black hole, using a horizon-scale magnetofluid model. The authors solve the null geodesic and radiative transfer equations numerically to obtain the optical appearances at various observational angles and frequencies, generated by thermal synchrotron radiation within the magnetofluid. For the thick disk, they examine the impact of emission anisotropy on images, finding that anisotropic synchrotron radiation significantly enhances the observability of the photon ring. For the funnel wall, they find that both outflow and inflow funnel walls exhibit annular structures on the imaging plane, with the outflow funnel wall yielding a brighter primary image than the photon ring. The study concludes that the inflow funnel wall model cannot be ruled out by current observations of M87*. The paper also discusses the limitations of the analytical model and suggests future directions for improving its accuracy.
Reach us at info@study.space