Polarimetric Geometric Modeling for mm-VLBI Observations of Black Holes
Journal article, 2023
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a millimeter very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) array that has imaged the apparent shadows of the supermassive black holes M87* and Sagittarius A*. Polarimetric data from these observations contain a wealth of information on the black hole and accretion flow properties. In this work, we develop polarimetric geometric modeling methods for mm-VLBI data, focusing on approaches that fit data products with differing degrees of invariance to broad classes of calibration errors. We establish a fitting procedure using a polarimetric “m-ring” model to approximate the image structure near a black hole. By fitting this model to synthetic EHT data from general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic models, we show that the linear and circular polarization structure can be successfully approximated with relatively few model parameters. We then fit this model to EHT observations of M87* taken in 2017. In total intensity and linear polarization, the m-ring fits are consistent with previous results from imaging methods. In circular polarization, the m-ring fits indicate the presence of event-horizon-scale circular polarization structure, with a persistent dipolar asymmetry and orientation across several days. The same structure was recovered independently of observing band, used data products, and model assumptions. Despite this broad agreement, imaging methods do not produce similarly consistent results. Our circular polarization results, which imposed additional assumptions on the source structure, should thus be interpreted with some caution. Polarimetric geometric modeling provides a useful and powerful method to constrain the properties of horizon-scale polarized emission, particularly for sparse arrays like the EHT.
Author
F. Roelofs
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Michael D. Johnson
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
A. Chael
Princeton University
Michael Janssen
Max Planck Society
M. Wielgus
Max Planck Society
Avery E. Broderick
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Kazunori Akiyama
Harvard University
Antxon Alberdi
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Walter Alef
Max Planck Society
Juan-Carlos Algaba
University of Malaya
Richard Anantua
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
K. Asada
Academia Sinica
R. Azulay
Max Planck Society
U. Bach
Max Planck Society
A. K. Baczko
Max Planck Society
David Ball
University of Arizona
Mislav Baloković
Yale University
John Barrett
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
M. Bauböck
University of Illinois
Bradford A. Benson
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Dan Bintley
East Asian Observatory
Lindy Blackburn
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
R. Blundell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
K. L. Bouman
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
G. C. Bower
Academia Sinica
Hope Boyce
McGill University
M. Bremer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
C. D. Brinkerink
Radboud University
Roger Brissenden
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Silke Britzen
Max Planck Society
D. Broguière
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Thomas Bronzwaer
Radboud University
Sandra Bustamente
University of Massachusetts
Do Young Byun
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
J. E. Carlstrom
University of Chicago
Chiara Ceccobello
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
Chi Kwan Chan
University of Arizona
Dominic O. Chang
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Koushik Chatterjee
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
S. Chatterjee
Harvard University
Ming Tang Chen
Academia Sinica
Yongjun Chen
Chinese Academy of Sciences
X. P. Cheng
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
I. Cho
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Pierre Christian
Fairfield University
Nicholas S. Conroy
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
John Conway
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
James M. Cordes
Cornell University
Thomas M. Crawford
University of Chicago
G. Crew
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Alejandro Cruz-Osorio
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Yuzhu Cui
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Rohan Dahale
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Jordy Davelaar
Radboud University
Mariafelicia De Laurentis
University of Naples Federico II
R. P. Deane
University of Pretoria
Jessica Dempsey
East Asian Observatory
Gregory Desvignes
Max Planck Society
Jason Dexter
University of Colorado at Boulder
Vedant Dhruv
University of Illinois
S. Doeleman
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Sean Dougal
University of Arizona
Sergio A. Dzib
Max Planck Society
Ralph P. Eatough
Max Planck Society
Razieh Emami
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
H.D. Falcke
Radboud University
Joseph R. Farah
University of California at Santa Barbara
V. Fish
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
E. Fomalont
National Radio Astronomy Observatory Socorro
H. Alyson Ford
University of Arizona
Marianna Foschi
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
R. Fraga-Encinas
Radboud University
William T. Freeman
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
P. Friberg
East Asian Observatory
Christian M. Fromm
Max Planck Society
Antonio Fuentes
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
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
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
C. Goddi
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
R. Gold
University of Southern Denmark
Arturo I. Gómez-Ruiz
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
J. L. Gomez
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Minfeng Gu
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
M. Gurwell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
K. Hada
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)
R. Hesper
University of Groningen
Dirk Heumann
University of Arizona
Luis C. Ho
P. T. P. Ho
Academia Sinica
Mareki Honma
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
Chih Wei L. Huang
Academia Sinica
Lei Huang
Academia Sinica
D. Hughes
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
Shiro Ikeda
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
C. M. V. Impellizzeri
University of Tokyo
Makoto Inoue
Academia Sinica
S. Issaoun
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
David J. James
ASTRAVEO
Buell T. Jannuzi
University of Arizona
Britton Jeter
Academia Sinica
Wu Jiang
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales
Radboud University
S.G. Jorstad
Boston University
Abhishek V. Joshi
University of Illinois
Taehyun Jung
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Mansour Karami
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
R. Karuppusamy
Max Planck Society
Tomohisa Kawashima
University of Tokyo
G. Keating
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
M. M. Kettenis
Kogakuin University of Technology and Engineering
Dong-Jin Kim
Max Planck Society
Jae-Young Kim
Max Planck Society
Jongsoo Kim
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Junhan Kim
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
M. Kino
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Jun Yi Koay
Academia Sinica
Prashant Kocherlakota
Goethe University Frankfurt
Yutaro Kofuji
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Patrick M. Koch
Academia Sinica
Shoko Koyama
Academia Sinica
C. Kramer
Princeton University
Joana A. Kramer
Max Planck Society
M. Kramer
Max Planck Society
T.P. Krichbaum
Max Planck Society
Cheng-Yu Kuo
Academia Sinica
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
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Aviad Levis
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Zhiyuan Li
Nanjing University
R. Lico
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
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)
Wen-Ping Lo
Academia Sinica
A. P. Lobanov
Max Planck Society
L. Loinard
Colin Lonsdale
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Amy E. Lowitz
University of Arizona
R.S. Lu
Max Planck Society
N. R. Macdonald
Max Planck Society
Jirong Mao
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Nicola Marchili
Max Planck Society
S. Markoff
University of Amsterdam
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
K. Menten
Max Planck Society
Daniel Michalik
University of Chicago
Izumi Mizuno
East Asian Observatory
Yosuke Mizuno
James M. Moran
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Kotaro Moriyama
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
M. Mościbrodzka
Radboud University
Wanga Mulaudzi
University of Amsterdam
C. Müller
Radboud University
Hendrik Müller
Max Planck Society
A. Mus
Universitat de Valencia
Gibwa Musoke
Radboud University
I. Myserlis
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Andrew Nadolski
University of Illinois
H. Nagai
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
N. M. Nagar
Masanori Nakamura
Academia Sinica
Ramesh Narayan
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Gopal Narayanan
Iniyan Natarajan
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Antonios Nathanail
National Technical University of Athens (NTUA)
Santiago Navarro Fuentes
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Joseph Neilsen
Villanova University
R. Neri
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Chunchong Ni
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
A. Noutsos
Max Planck Society
Michael A. Nowak
University of Washington
Junghwan Oh
Sejong University
Hiroki Okino
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Héctor Olivares
Radboud University
G.N. Ortiz-León
Max Planck Society
Tomoaki Oyama
Feryal Özel
Daniel C.M. Palumbo
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Georgios Filippos Paraschos
Max Planck Society
Jongho Park
Kyung Hee University
Harriet Parsons
East Asian Observatory
N. Patel
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
U. L. Pen
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dominic W. Pesce
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Vincent Piétu
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Richard L. Plambeck
University of California at Berkeley
Aleksandar PopStefanija
University of Massachusetts
Oliver Porth
University of Amsterdam
Felix M. Pötzl
Max Planck Society
Ben Prather
University of Illinois
Jorge A. Preciado-López
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dimitrios Psaltis
Hung-Yi Pu
Academia Sinica
Venkatessh Ramakrishnan
University of Concepcion
R. Rao
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
M.G. Rawlings
East Asian Observatory
Alexander W. Raymond
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Luciano Rezzolla
Angelo Ricarte
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Bart Ripperda
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
A.E.E. Rogers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
C. Romero-Cañizales
Academia Sinica
Eduardo Ros
Max Planck Society
Arash Roshanineshat
University of Arizona
H. Rottmann
Max Planck Society
A. Roy
Max Planck Society
Ignacio Ruiz
C. Ruszczyk
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Kazi L.J. Rygl
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
S. Sanchez
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
David Sánchez-Arguelles
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
M. Sánchez Portal
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Mahito Sasada
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Kaushik Satapathy
University of Arizona
T. Savolainen
Max Planck Society
F. P. Schloerb
Jonathan Schonfeld
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
K. Schuster
McGill University
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)
León David Sosapanta Salas
University of Amsterdam
Kamal Souccar
University of Massachusetts
He Sun
Peking University
Fumie Tazaki
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Alexandra J. Tetarenko
University of Lethbridge
Paul Tiede
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
R. P. J. Tilanus
Radboud University
M. Titus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Pablo Torne
Max Planck Society
Teresa Toscano
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
E. Traianou
Max Planck Society
Tyler Trent
University of Arizona
S. Trippe
Seoul National University
Matthew Turk
University of Illinois
I. van Bemmel
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
H. J. van Langevelde
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Daniel R. van Rossum
Radboud University
Jesse Vos
Radboud University
Jan Wagner
Max Planck Society
D. Ward-Thompson
University of Central Lancashire
John Wardle
Brandeis University
Jasmin E. Washington
University of Arizona
J. Weintroub
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Robert Wharton
Max Planck Society
K. Wiik
Gunther Witzel
Max Planck Society
Michael F. Wondrak
Radboud University
George N. Wong
Princeton University
Qingwen Wu
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Nitika Yadlapalli
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Paul Yamaguchi
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Aristomenis Yfantis
Radboud University
Doosoo Yoon
University of Amsterdam
A. Young
Radboud University
K. Young
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ziri Younsi
University College London (UCL)
Wei Yu
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Feng Yuan
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ye-Fei Yuan
University of Science and Technology of China
A.J. Zensus
Max Planck Society
Shuo Zhang
Michigan State University
G. Y. Zhao
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Shan-Shan Zhao
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Astrophysical Journal Letters
2041-8205 (ISSN) 2041-8213 (eISSN)
Vol. 957 2 L21Onsala space observatory infrastructure
Swedish Research Council (VR) (2017-00648), 2018-01-01 -- 2021-12-31.
RadioNet 4
European Commission (EC) (EC/H2020/730562), 2017-01-01 -- 2020-12-31.
Subject Categories
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
DOI
10.3847/2041-8213/acff6f