First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. V. Testing Astrophysical Models of the Galactic Center Black Hole
Journal article, 2022

In this paper we provide a first physical interpretation for the Event Horizon Telescope's (EHT) 2017 observations of Sgr A*. Our main approach is to compare resolved EHT data at 230 GHz and unresolved non-EHT observations from radio to X-ray wavelengths to predictions from a library of models based on time-dependent general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations, including aligned, tilted, and stellar-wind-fed simulations; radiative transfer is performed assuming both thermal and nonthermal electron distribution functions. We test the models against 11 constraints drawn from EHT 230 GHz data and observations at 86 GHz, 2.2 mu m, and in the X-ray. All models fail at least one constraint. Light-curve variability provides a particularly severe constraint, failing nearly all strongly magnetized (magnetically arrested disk (MAD)) models and a large fraction of weakly magnetized models. A number of models fail only the variability constraints. We identify a promising cluster of these models, which are MAD and have inclination i <= 30 degrees. They have accretion rate (5.2-9.5) x 10(-9) M (circle dot) yr(-1), bolometric luminosity (6.8-9.2) x 10(35) erg s(-1), and outflow power (1.3-4.8) x 10(38) erg s(-1). We also find that all models with i >= 70 degrees fail at least two constraints, as do all models with equal ion and electron temperature; exploratory, nonthermal model sets tend to have higher 2.2 mu m flux density; and the population of cold electrons is limited by X-ray constraints due to the risk of bremsstrahlung overproduction. Finally, we discuss physical and numerical limitations of the models, highlighting the possible importance of kinetic effects and duration of the simulations.

Author

Kazunori Akiyama

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Harvard University

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

University of Texas at San Antonio

Harvard University

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Keiichi Asada

Academia Sinica

Rebecca Azulay

Max Planck Society

Universitat de Valencia

Uwe Bach

Max Planck Society

Anne-Kathrin Baczko

Max Planck Society

David Ball

University of Arizona

Mislav Balokovic

Yale University

John Barrett

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Michi Baubock

University of Illinois

Bradford A. Benson

University of Chicago

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Dan Bintley

James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

East Asian Observatory

Lindy Blackburn

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Harvard University

Raymond Blundell

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Katherine L. Bouman

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Geoffrey C. Bower

Academia Sinica

University of Hawaii

Hope Boyce

McGill University

Michael Bremer

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Christiaan D. Brinkerink

Radboud University

Roger Brissenden

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Harvard University

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

Sandra Bustamante

University of Massachusetts

Do-Young Byun

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

University of Science and Technology (UST)

John E. Carlstrom

University of Chicago

Chiara Ceccobello

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics

Andrew Chael

Princeton University

NASA Hubble Fellowship Program

Chi-kwan Chan

University of Arizona

Koushik Chatterjee

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Harvard University

Shami Chatterjee

Cornell University

Ming-Tang Chen

Academia Sinica

Yongjun Chen

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Xiaopeng Cheng

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

Ilje Cho

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Pierre Christian

Fairfield University

Nicholas S. Conroy

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

University of Illinois

John Conway

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory

James M. Cordes

Cornell University

Thomas M. Crawford

Chinese Academy of Sciences

University of Chicago

Geoffrey B. Crew

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Alejandro Cruz-Osorio

Goethe University Frankfurt

Yuzhu Cui

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)

Jordy Davelaar

Radboud University

Columbia University

Flatiron Institute

Mariafelicia De Laurentis

National Institute for Nuclear Physics

University of Naples Federico II

Goethe University Frankfurt

Roger Deane

University of Pretoria

Rhodes University

University of Witwatersrand

Jessica Dempsey

East Asian Observatory

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

Gregory Desvignes

Paris Descartes University

Max Planck Society

Jason Dexter

University of Colorado at Boulder

Vedant Dhruv

University of Illinois

Sheperd S. Doeleman

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Harvard University

Sean Dougal

University of Arizona

Sergio A. Dzib

Max Planck Society

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Ralph P. Eatough

Max Planck Society

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Razieh Emami

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Heino Falcke

Radboud University

Joseph Farah

Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network

University of California at Santa Barbara

Vincent L. Fish

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Ed Fomalont

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

H. Alyson Ford

University of Arizona

Raquel Fraga-Encinas

Radboud University

William T. Freeman

Google Inc.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Per Friberg

James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

East Asian Observatory

Christian M. Fromm

Max Planck Society

University of Würzburg

Goethe University Frankfurt

Antonio Fuentes

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Peter Galison

Harvard University

Charles F. Gammie

University of Illinois

Roberto Garcia

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Olivier Gentaz

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Boris Georgiev

University of Waterloo

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Ciriaco Goddi

University of Cagliari

INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari

R. Gold

Goethe University Frankfurt

University of Southern Denmark

Gomez-Ruiz

National Council for Science and Technology Mexico

National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics

Jose L. Gomez

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Minfeng Gu

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Mark Gurwell

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Kazuhiro Hada

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)

Daryl Haggard

McGill University

Kari Haworth

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Michael H. Hecht

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Ronald Hesper

University of Groningen

Dirk Heumann

University of Arizona

Luis C. Ho

Beijing University of Technology

Paul Ho

James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

East Asian Observatory

Academia Sinica

Mareki Honma

University of Tokyo

The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

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 Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)

The Institute of Statistical Mathematics

University of Tokyo

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

C. M. Violette Impellizzeri

Leiden University

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Makoto Inoue

Academia Sinica

Sara Issaoun

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

NASA Hubble Fellowship Program

David J. James

ASTRAVEO

Buell T. Jannuzi

University of Arizona

Michael Janssen

Max Planck Society

Britton Jeter

Academia Sinica

Wu Jiang

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales

Radboud University

Michael D. Johnson

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Harvard University

Svetlana Jorstad

Boston University

Joshi

University of Illinois

Taehyun Jung

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

University of Science and Technology (UST)

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

Kyungpook National University

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

Prashant Kocherlakota

Goethe University Frankfurt

Yutaro Kofuji

University of Tokyo

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Patrick M. Koch

Academia Sinica

Shoko Koyama

Niigata University

Academia Sinica

Carsten Kramer

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Michael Kramer

Max Planck Society

Thomas P. Krichbaum

Max Planck Society

Cheng-Yu Kuo

Academia Sinica

National Sun Yat-Sen University

Noemi La Bella

Radboud University

Tod R. Lauer

National Optical Astronomy Observatory

Daeyoung Lee

University of Illinois

Sang-Sung Lee

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

Po Kin Leung

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Aviad Levis

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Zhiyuan Li

Nanjing University

Rocco Lico

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

Greg Lindahl

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Michael Lindqvist

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory

Mikhail Lisakov

Max Planck Society

Jun Liu

Max Planck Society

Kuo Liu

Max Planck Society

Elisabetta Liuzzo

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

Italian ALMA Regional Centre

Wen-Ping Lo

National Taiwan University

Academia Sinica

Andrei P. Lobanov

Max Planck Society

Laurent Loinard

Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico

Colin J. Lonsdale

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Ru-Sen Lu

Max Planck Society

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Jirong Mao

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nicola Marchili

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

Italian ALMA Regional Centre

Max Planck Society

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

Institute for Advanced Study

Karl M. Menten

Max Planck Society

Daniel Michalik

European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA ESTEC)

University of Chicago

Izumi Mizuno

James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

East Asian Observatory

Yosuke Mizuno

Goethe University Frankfurt

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

James M. Moran

Harvard University

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Kotaro Moriyama

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Goethe University Frankfurt

Monika Moscibrodzka

Radboud University

Cornelia Mueller

Radboud University

Max Planck Society

Alejandro Mus

Universitat de Valencia

Gibwa Musoke

University of Amsterdam

Radboud University

Ioannis Myserlis

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Andrew Nadolski

University of Illinois

Hiroshi Nagai

The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Neil M. Nagar

University of Concepcion

Masanori Nakamura

National Institute of Technology, Hachinohe College

Academia Sinica

Ramesh Narayan

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Harvard University

Gopal Narayanan

University of Massachusetts

Iniyan Natarajan

South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)

University of Witwatersrand

Antonios Nathanail

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Goethe University Frankfurt

Santiago Navarro Fuentes

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Joey Neilsen

Villanova University

Roberto Neri

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Chunchong Ni

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

University of Waterloo

Aristeidis Noutsos

Max Planck Society

Michael A. Nowak

Washington University in St. Louis

Junghwan Oh

Sejong University

Hiroki Okino

The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Hector Olivares

Radboud University

Gisela N. Ortiz-Leon

Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico

Max Planck Society

Tomoaki Oyama

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Feryal Ozel

University of Arizona

Daniel C. M. Palumbo

Harvard University

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Georgios Filippos Paraschos

Max Planck Society

Jongho Park

Academia Sinica

Harriet Parsons

East Asian Observatory

James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

Nimesh Patel

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

U. L. Pen

University of Toronto

Canadian Institute for Advanced Research

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Academia Sinica

Dominic W. Pesce

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Harvard University

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

University College Cork

Ben Prather

University of Illinois

Jorge A. Preciado-Lopez

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Dimitrios Psaltis

University of Arizona

Hung-Yi Pu

Academia Sinica

National Taiwan Normal University

Venkatessh Ramakrishnan

Aalto University

University of Concepcion

University of Turku

Ramprasad Rao

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Mark G. Rawlings

James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

Gemini Observatory North

East Asian Observatory

Alexander W. Raymond

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Harvard University

Luciano Rezzolla

Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies

Trinity College Dublin

Goethe University Frankfurt

Angelo Ricarte

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Harvard University

Bart Ripperda

Princeton University

Flatiron Institute

Freek Roelofs

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Radboud University

Harvard University

Alan Rogers

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Eduardo Ros

Max Planck Society

Cristina Romero-Canizales

Academia Sinica

Arash Roshanineshat

University of Arizona

Helge Rottmann

Max Planck Society

Alan L. Roy

Max Planck Society

Ignacio Ruiz

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Chet Ruszczyk

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Kazi L. J. Rygl

Italian ALMA Regional Centre

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

Salvador Sanchez

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

David Sanchez-Arguelles

National Council for Science and Technology Mexico

National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics

Miguel Sanchez-Portal

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Mahito Sasada

Tokyo Institute of Technology

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Hiroshima University

Kaushik Satapathy

University of Arizona

Tuomas Savolainen

Max Planck Society

Aalto University

F. Peter Schloerb

University of Massachusetts

Jonathan Schonfeld

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Karl-Friedrich Schuster

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Lijing Shao

Beijing University of Technology

Max Planck Society

Zhiqiang Shen

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Des Small

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)

Bong Won Sohn

Yonsei University

University of Science and Technology (UST)

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

Jason SooHoo

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Kamal Souccar

University of Massachusetts

He Sun

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Fumie Tazaki

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Alexandra J. Tetarenko

Texas Tech University at Lubbock

NASA Hubble Fellowship Program

Paul Tiede

Harvard University

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Remo P. J. Tilanus

Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)

University of Arizona

Leiden University

Radboud University

Michael Titus

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Pablo Torne

Max Planck Society

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Efthalia Traianou

Max Planck Society

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Tyler Trent

University of Arizona

Sascha Trippe

Seoul National University

Matthew Turk

University of Illinois

Ilse van Bemmel

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)

Huib Jan van Langevelde

University of New Mexico

Leiden University

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)

Daniel R. van Rossum

Radboud University

Jesse Vos

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

Max Planck Society

Kaj Wiik

University of Turku

Gunther Witzel

Max Planck Society

Michael F. Wondrak

Radboud University

George N. Wong

Institute for Advanced Study

Princeton University

Qingwen Wu

Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Paul Yamaguchi

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

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

Shuo Zhang

Bard College

Guang-Yao Zhao

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Shan-Shan Zhao

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Tin Lok Chan

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Richard Qiu

Harvard University

Sean Ressler

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics

Chris White

Princeton University

Astrophysical Journal Letters

2041-8205 (ISSN) 2041-8213 (eISSN)

Vol. 930 2 L16

Subject Categories

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Other Physics Topics

Probability Theory and Statistics

DOI

10.3847/2041-8213/ac6672

More information

Latest update

5/31/2022