The Polarized Image of a Synchrotron-emitting Ring of Gas Orbiting a Black Hole
Journal article, 2021
Synchrotron radiation from hot gas near a black hole results in a polarized image. The image polarization is determined by effects including the orientation of the magnetic field in the emitting region, relativistic motion of the gas, strong gravitational lensing by the black hole, and parallel transport in the curved spacetime. We explore these effects using a simple model of an axisymmetric, equatorial accretion disk around a Schwarzschild black hole. By using an approximate expression for the null geodesics derived by Beloborodov and conservation of the Walker-Penrose constant, we provide analytic estimates for the image polarization. We test this model using currently favored general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of M87*, using ring parameters given by the simulations. For a subset of these with modest Faraday effects, we show that the ring model broadly reproduces the polarimetric image morphology. Our model also predicts the polarization evolution for compact flaring regions, such as those observed from Sgr A* with GRAVITY. With suitably chosen parameters, our simple model can reproduce the EVPA pattern and relative polarized intensity in Event Horizon Telescope images of M87*. Under the physically motivated assumption that the magnetic field trails the fluid velocity, this comparison is consistent with the clockwise rotation inferred from total intensity images.
Author
Ramesh Narayan
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Daniel C. M. Palumbo
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Michael D. Johnson
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Zachary Gelles
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Elizabeth Himwich
Harvard University
Dominic O. Chang
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Angelo Ricarte
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Jason Dexter
University of Colorado at Boulder
Charles F. Gammie
University of Illinois
Andrew A. Chael
Princeton University
Kazunori Akiyama
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Antxon Alberdi
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Walter Alef
Max Planck Society
Juan Carlos Algaba
University of Malaya
Richard Anantua
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Keiichi Asada
Academia Sinica
Rebecca Azulay
Universitat de Valencia
Max Planck Society
Anne-Kathrin Baczko
Max Planck Society
David Ball
University of Arizona
John Barrett
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Bradford A. Benson
University of Chicago
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Dan Bintley
East Asian Observatory
Lindy Blackburn
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Raymond Blundell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Wilfred Boland
Nederlandse Onderzoekschool voor Astronomie (NOVA)
Katherine L. Bouman
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Geoffrey C. Bower
Acad Sinica, Inst Astron & Astrophys, 645 N Ohoku Pl
Hope Boyce
McGill University
Michael Bremer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Christiaan D. Brinkerink
Radboud University
Roger Brissenden
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Silke Britzen
Max Planck Society
Avery E. Broderick
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
University of Waterloo
Dominique Broguiere
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Thomas Bronzwaer
Radboud University
Do-Young Byun
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
John E. Carlstrom
University of Chicago
Chi-kwan Chan
University of Arizona
Shami Chatterjee
Cornell University
Koushik Chatterjee
University of Amsterdam
Ming-Tang Chen
Acad Sinica, Inst Astron & Astrophys, 645 N Ohoku Pl
Yongjun Chen
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Paul M. Chesler
Harvard University
Ilje Cho
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Pierre Christian
Fairfield University
John Conway
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
James M. Cordes
Cornell University
Thomas M. Crawford
University of Chicago
Geoffrey B. Crew
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Alejandro Cruz-Osorio
Goethe University Frankfurt
Yuzhu Cui
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
Jordy Davelaar
Flatiron Institute
Radboud University
Columbia University
Mariafelicia De Laurentis
Goethe University Frankfurt
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
University of Naples Federico II
Roger Deane
Rhodes University
University of Witwatersrand
University of Pretoria
Jessica Dempsey
East Asian Observatory
Gregory Desvignes
Paris Descartes University
Sheperd S. Doeleman
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ralph P. Eatough
Max Planck Society
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Heino Falcke
Radboud University
Joseph Farah
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
University of Massachusetts Boston
Vincent L. Fish
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ed Fomalont
University of Arizona
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
H. Alyson Ford
Harvard University
Raquel Fraga-Encinas
Radboud University
Per Friberg
East Asian Observatory
Christian M. Fromm
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Goethe University Frankfurt
Antonio Fuentes
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Peter Galison
Harvard University
Roberto Garcia
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Olivier Gentaz
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Boris Georgiev
University of Waterloo
Ciriaco Goddi
Leiden University
Radboud University
Roman Gold
University of Southern Denmark
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Jose L. Gomez
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Gomez-Ruiz
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
National Council for Science and Technology Mexico
Minfeng Gu
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mark Gurwell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Kazuhiro Hada
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Daryl Haggard
McGill University
Michael H. Hecht
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ronald Hesper
University of Groningen
Luis C. Ho
Beijing University of Technology
Paul Ho
Academia Sinica
Mareki Honma
University of Tokyo
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
Chih-Wei L. Huang
Academia Sinica
Lei Huang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
David H. Hughes
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
Shiro Ikeda
The Institute of Statistical Mathematics
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
University of Tokyo
Makoto Inoue
Academia Sinica
Sara Issaoun
Radboud University
David J. James
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Buell T. Jannuzi
University of Arizona
Michael Janssen
Max Planck Society
Britton Jeter
University of Waterloo
Wu Jiang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales
Radboud University
Svetlana Jorstad
Saint Petersburg State University - Spsu
Boston University
Taehyun Jung
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Mansour Karami
University of Waterloo
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Ramesh Karuppusamy
Max Planck Society
Tomohisa Kawashima
University of Tokyo
Garrett K. Keating
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Mark Kettenis
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Dong-Jin Kim
Max Planck Society
Jae-Young Kim
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Max Planck Society
Jongsoo Kim
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Junhan Kim
University of Arizona
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Motoki Kino
Kogakuin University of Technology and Engineering
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Jun Yi Koay
Academia Sinica
Yutaro Kofuji
University of Tokyo
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Patrick M. Koch
Academia Sinica
Shoko Koyama
Academia Sinica
Michael Kramer
Max Planck Society
Carsten Kramer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Thomas P. Krichbaum
Max Planck Society
Cheng-Yu Kuo
Academia Sinica
National Sun Yat-Sen University
Tod R. Lauer
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Sang-Sung Lee
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Aviad Levis
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Yan-Rong Li
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhiyuan Li
Nanjing University
Michael Lindqvist
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
Rocco Lico
Max Planck Society
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Greg Lindahl
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Jun Liu
Max Planck Society
Kuo Liu
Max Planck Society
Elisabetta Liuzzo
Italian ALMA Reg Ctr
Wen-Ping Lo
Academia Sinica
National Taiwan University
Andrei P. Lobanov
Max Planck Society
Laurent Loinard
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Colin Lonsdale
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ru-Sen Lu
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Max Planck Society
Nicholas R. MacDonald
Max Planck Society
Jirong Mao
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Nicola Marchili
Max Planck Society
Italian ALMA Reg Ctr
Sera Markoff
University of Amsterdam
Daniel P. Marrone
University of Arizona
Alan P. Marscher
Boston University
Ivan Marti-Vidal
Universitat de Valencia
Satoki Matsushita
Academia Sinica
Lynn D. Matthews
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Lia Medeiros
University of Arizona
Princeton University
Karl M. Menten
Max Planck Society
Izumi Mizuno
East Asian Observatory
Yosuke Mizuno
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Goethe University Frankfurt
James M. Moran
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Kotaro Moriyama
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Monika Moscibrodzka
Radboud University
Cornelia Muller
Radboud University
Max Planck Society
Gibwa Musoke
University of Amsterdam
Radboud University
Alejandro Mus Mejias
Universitat de Valencia
Hiroshi Nagai
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Neil M. Nagar
University of Concepcion
Masanori Nakamura
Academia Sinica
National Institute of Technology, Hachinohe College
Gopal Narayanan
University of Massachusetts
Iniyan Natarajan
Rhodes University
South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)
University of Witwatersrand
Antonios Nathanail
Goethe University Frankfurt
Joey Neilsen
Villanova University
Roberto Neri
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Chunchong Ni
University of Waterloo
Aristeidis Noutsos
Max Planck Society
Michael A. Nowak
Washington University in St. Louis
Hiroki Okino
University of Tokyo
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Hector Olivares
Radboud University
Gisela N. Ortiz-Leon
Max Planck Society
Tomoaki Oyama
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Feryal Ozel
University of Arizona
Jongho Park
Academia Sinica
Nimesh Patel
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ue-Li Pen
University of Toronto
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dominic W. Pesce
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Vincent Pietu
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Richard Plambeck
University of California at Berkeley
Aleksandar PopStefanija
University of Massachusetts
Oliver Porth
Goethe University Frankfurt
University of Amsterdam
Felix M. Potzl
Max Planck Society
Ben Prather
Washington University in St. Louis
Jorge A. Preciado-Lopez
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dimitrios Psaltis
University of Arizona
Hung-Yi Pu
Academia Sinica
National Taiwan Normal University
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Venkatessh Ramakrishnan
University of Concepcion
Ramprasad Rao
Acad Sinica, Inst Astron & Astrophys, 645 N Ohoku Pl
Mark G. Rawlings
East Asian Observatory
Alexander W. Raymond
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Luciano Rezzolla
Goethe University Frankfurt
Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies
Trinity College Dublin
University of Illinois
Bart Ripperda
Flatiron Institute
Princeton University
Freek Roelofs
Radboud University
Alan Rogers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Eduardo Ros
Max Planck Society
Mel Rose
University of Arizona
Arash Roshanineshat
University of Arizona
Helge Rottmann
Max Planck Society
Alan L. Roy
Max Planck Society
Chet Ruszczyk
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Kazi L. J. Rygl
Italian ALMA Reg Ctr
Salvador Sanchez
Inst Radioastronom Milim Etr
David Sanchez-Arguelles
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
National Council for Science and Technology Mexico
Mahito Sasada
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Hiroshima University
Tuomas Savolainen
Max Planck Society
Aalto University
F. Peter Schloerb
University of Massachusetts
Karl-Friedrich Schuster
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Lijing Shao
Max Planck Society
Beijing University of Technology
Zhiqiang Shen
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Des Small
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Bong Won Sohn
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Yonsei University
Jason SooHoo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
He Sun
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Fumie Tazaki
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Alexandra J. Tetarenko
East Asian Observatory
Paul Tiede
University of Waterloo
Remo P. J. Tilanus
Radboud University
University of Arizona
Leiden University
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
Michael Titus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Kenji Toma
Tohoku University
Pablo Torne
Inst Radioastronom Milim Etr
Max Planck Society
Tyler Trent
University of Arizona
Efthalia Traianou
Max Planck Society
Sascha Trippe
Seoul National University
Ilse van Bemmel
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Huib Jan van Langevelde
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Leiden University
Daniel R. van Rossum
Radboud University
Jan Wagner
Max Planck Society
Derek Ward-Thompson
University of Central Lancashire
John Wardle
Brandeis University
Jonathan Weintroub
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Norbert Wex
Max Planck Society
Robert Wharton
Max Planck Society
Maciek Wielgus
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
George N. Wong
Washington University in St. Louis
Qingwen Wu
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Doosoo Yoon
University of Amsterdam
Andre Young
Radboud University
Ken Young
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ziri Younsi
Goethe University Frankfurt
University College London (UCL)
Feng Yuan
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ye-Fei Yuan
University of Science and Technology of China
J. Anton Zensus
Max Planck Society
Guang-Yao Zhao
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Shan-Shan Zhao
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Astrophysical Journal
0004-637X (ISSN) 1538-4357 (eISSN)
Vol. 912 1 35Subject Categories
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Geophysics
Medical Image Processing
DOI
10.3847/1538-4357/abf117