Verification of Radiative Transfer Schemes for the EHT
Journal article, 2020
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration has recently produced the first resolved images of the central supermassive black hole in the giant elliptical galaxy M87. Here we report on tests of the consistency and accuracy of the general relativistic radiative transfer codes used within the collaboration to model M87∗ and Sgr A∗. We compare and evaluate (1) deflection angles for equatorial null geodesics in a Kerr spacetime; (2) images calculated from a series of simple, parameterized matter distributions in the Kerr metric using simplified emissivities and absorptivities; (3) for a subset of codes, images calculated from general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations using different realistic synchrotron emissivities and absorptivities; (4) observables for the 2017 configuration of EHT, including visibility amplitudes and closure phases. The error in total flux is of order 1% when the codes are run with production numerical parameters. The dominant source of discrepancies for small camera distances is the location and detailed setup of the software "camera"that each code uses to produce synthetic images. We find that when numerical parameters are suitably chosen and the camera is sufficiently far away the images converge and that for given transfer coefficients, numerical uncertainties are unlikely to limit parameter estimation for the current generation of EHT observations. The purpose of this paper is to describe a verification and comparison of EHT radiative transfer codes. It is not to verify EHT models more generally.
Author
Ralph P. Eatough
Max Planck Society
R. Gold
University of Southern Denmark
Avery E. Broderick
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Ziri Younsi
Goethe University Frankfurt
Christian M. Fromm
Goethe University Frankfurt
Charles F. Gammie
University of Illinois
M. Mościbrodzka
Radboud University
Hung-Yi Pu
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Thomas Bronzwaer
Radboud University
Jordy Davelaar
Radboud University
Jason Dexter
University of Colorado at Boulder
David Ball
University of Arizona
Chi Kwan Chan
University of Arizona
Tomohisa Kawashima
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Yosuke Mizuno
Goethe University Frankfurt
Bart Ripperda
Flatiron Institute
Kazunori Akiyama
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Antxon Alberdi
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Walter Alef
Max Planck Society
K. Asada
Academia Sinica
R. Azulay
Max Planck Society
A. K. Baczko
Max Planck Society
Mislav Baloković
Harvard University
John Barrett
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Dan Bintley
East Asian Observatory
Lindy Blackburn
Harvard University
W. Boland
Nederlandse Onderzoekschool voor Astronomie (NOVA)
K. L. Bouman
Harvard University
G. C. Bower
Academia Sinica
M. Bremer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
C. D. Brinkerink
Radboud University
Roger Brissenden
Harvard University
Silke Britzen
Max Planck Society
D. Broguière
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Do Young Byun
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
J. E. Carlstrom
University of Chicago
A. Chael
Princeton University
Koushik Chatterjee
University of Amsterdam
S. Chatterjee
Cornell University
Ming-Tang Chen
Academia Sinica
Yongjun Chen
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
I. Cho
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Pierre Christian
University of Arizona
John Conway
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
James M. Cordes
Cornell University
G. Crew
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Yuzhu Cui
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Mariafelicia De Laurentis
Goethe University Frankfurt
R. P. Deane
University of Pretoria
Jessica Dempsey
East Asian Observatory
Gregory Desvignes
Max Planck Society
S. Doeleman
Harvard University
H.D. Falcke
Radboud University
V. Fish
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ed Fomalont
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
R. Fraga-Encinas
Radboud University
Bill Freeman
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
P. Friberg
East Asian Observatory
J. L. Gomez
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Peter Galison
Harvard University
Roberto Garcia
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Olivier Gentaz
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Boris Georgiev
University of Waterloo
C. Goddi
Radboud University
Minfeng Gu
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
M. Gurwell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
K. Hada
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Michael H. Hecht
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
R. Hesper
University of Groningen
Luis C. Ho
Beijing University of Technology
Paul Ho
Academia Sinica
M. Honma
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Chih Wei L. Huang
Academia Sinica
Lei Huang
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
D. Hughes
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
Makoto Inoue
Academia Sinica
S. Issaoun
Radboud University
David J. James
Harvard University
Buell T. Jannuzi
University of Arizona
Michael Janssen
Radboud University
Britton Jeter
University of Waterloo
Wu Jiang
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales
Max Planck Society
Michael D. Johnson
Harvard University
S.G. Jorstad
Boston University
Taehyun Jung
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Mansour Karami
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
R. Karuppusamy
Max Planck Society
G. Keating
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
M. M. Kettenis
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Jae-Young Kim
Max Planck Society
Junhan Kim
University of Arizona
Jongsoo Kim
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
M. Kino
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Jun Yi Koay
Academia Sinica
Patrick M. Koch
Academia Sinica
Shoko Koyama
Academia Sinica
M.A. Kramer
Max Planck Society
C. Kramer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
T.P. Krichbaum
Max Planck Society
Cheng-Yu Kuo
National Sun Yat-Sen University
Tod R. Lauer
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Sang Sung Lee
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Yan Rong Li
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhiyuan Li
Nanjing University
R. Lico
Max Planck Society
Michael Lindqvist
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
Kuo Liu
Max Planck Society
Elisabetta Liuzzo
Istituto di Radioastronomia
Wen-Ping Lo
Academia Sinica
A. P. Lobanov
Max Planck Society
L. Loinard
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Colin Lonsdale
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
R.S. Lu
Max Planck Society
N. R. Macdonald
Max Planck Society
S. Markoff
University of Amsterdam
Jirong Mao
Chinese Academy of Sciences
D. P. Marrone
University of Arizona
A. Marscher
Boston University
Ivan Marti-Vidal
Universitat de Valencia
S. Matsushita
Academia Sinica
Lynn D. Matthews
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Lia Medeiros
University of Arizona
K. Menten
Max Planck Society
Izumi Mizuno
East Asian Observatory
James M. Moran
Harvard University
Kotaro Moriyama
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
C. Müller
Radboud University
H. Nagai
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Masanori Nakamura
Academia Sinica
N. M. Nagar
University of Concepcion
Ramesh Narayan
Harvard University
Gopal Narayanan
University of Massachusetts
Iniyan Natarajan
Rhodes University
R. Neri
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Chunchong Ni
University of Waterloo
A. Noutsos
Max Planck Society
Hiroki Okino
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
G.N. Ortiz-León
Max Planck Society
Tomoaki Oyama
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Feryal zel
University of Arizona
Daniel C.M. Palumbo
Harvard University
Jongho Park
Academia Sinica
N. Patel
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
U. L. Pen
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dominic W. Pesce
Harvard University
Richard L. Plambeck
University of California
Vincent Piétu
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Aleksandar PopStefanija
University of Massachusetts
Oliver Porth
Goethe University Frankfurt
Jorge A. Preciado-López
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dimitrios Psaltis
University of Arizona
Venkatessh Ramakrishnan
University of Concepcion
R. Rao
Academia Sinica
M.G. Rawlings
East Asian Observatory
Alexander W. Raymond
Harvard University
Luciano Rezzolla
Goethe University Frankfurt
F. Roelofs
Radboud University
A.E.E. Rogers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Eduardo Ros
Max Planck Society
Mel Rose
University of Arizona
Arash Roshanineshat
University of Arizona
H. Rottmann
Max Planck Society
A. Roy
Max Planck Society
C. Ruszczyk
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Kazi L.J. Rygl
Istituto di Radioastronomia
S. Sanchez
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
David Sánchez-Arguelles
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
Mahito Sasada
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
T. Savolainen
Max Planck Society
K. Schuster
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
F. P. Schloerb
University of Massachusetts
Lijing Shao
Max Planck Society
Zhi Qiang Shen
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Des Small
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
B. W. Sohn
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
J. SooHoo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Paul Tiede
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Fumie Tazaki
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
R. P. J. Tilanus
Radboud University
M. Titus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Kenji Toma
Tohoku University
Pablo Torne
Max Planck Society
Tyler Trent
University of Arizona
Thalia Traianou
Max Planck Society
S. Trippe
Seoul National University
Shuichiro Tsuda
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
H. J. van Langevelde
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
I. van Bemmel
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Daniel R. van Rossum
Radboud University
Jan Wagner
Max Planck Society
John Wardle
Brandeis University
Norbert Wex
Max Planck Society
J. Weintroub
Harvard University
Robert Wharton
Max Planck Society
M. Wielgus
Harvard University
George N. Wong
University of Illinois
Qingwen Wu
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Doosoo Yoon
University of Amsterdam
Ken Young
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
A. Young
Radboud University
Feng Yuan
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Ye-Fei Yuan
University of Science and Technology of China
A.J. Zensus
Max Planck Society
G. Y. Zhao
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Shan-Shan Zhao
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Ziyan Zhu
Harvard University
Astrophysical Journal
0004-637X (ISSN) 1538-4357 (eISSN)
Vol. 897 2 148Subject Categories
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Computer Vision and Robotics (Autonomous Systems)
Medical Image Processing
DOI
10.3847/1538-4357/ab96c6