MeqSilhouette : A mm-VLBI observation and signal corruption simulator

Abstract

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) aims to spatially resolve the silhouette (or shadow) of the supermassive black holes in the Galactic Centre (Sgr A${}^{\star }$) and M87. The primary scientific objectives are to test general relativity in the strong-field regime and to probe accretion and jet-launch physics at event-horizon scales. This is made possible by the technique of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at (sub)millimetre wavelengths, which can achieve angular resolutions of order $\sim 10\mu$-arcsec. However, this approach suffers from unique observational challenges, including scattering in the troposphere and interstellar medium; rapidly time-variable source structure in both polarized and total intensity; as well as non-negligible antenna pointing errors. In this, the first paper in a series, we present the MeqSilhouette software package which is specifically designed to accurately simulate EHT observations. It includes realistic descriptions of a number of signal corruptions that can limit the ability to measure the key science parameters. This can be used to quantify calibration requirements, test parameter estimation and imaging strategies, and investigate systematic uncertainties that may be present. In doing so, a stronger link can be made between observational capabilities and theoretical predictions, with the goal of maximising scientific output from the upcoming order of magnitude increase in EHT sensitivity.

arXiv commentSubmitted to MNRAS, responded to first referee report. Comments are welcome

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Cited by in corpus (13)

• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. I. The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole
• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. IV. Imaging the Central Supermassive Black Hole
• Event Horizon Telescope observations of the jet launching and collimation in Centaurus A
• Studying Black Holes on Horizon Scales with VLBI Ground Arrays
• Black hole parameter estimation with synthetic Very Long Baseline Interferometry data from the ground and from space
• CASA on the fringe -- Development of VLBI processing capabilities for CASA
• MeqSilhouette v2: Spectrally-resolved polarimetric synthetic data generation for the Event Horizon Telescope
• OmniUV: A Multi-Purpose Simulation Toolkit for VLBI Observation
• Deep learning inference with the Event Horizon Telescope III. Zingularity results from the 2017 observations and predictions for future array expansions
• Expanding Sgr A* dynamical imaging capabilities with an African extension to the Event Horizon Telescope
• Deep learning inference with the Event Horizon Telescope I. Calibration improvements and a comprehensive synthetic data library
• SYMBA: An end-to-end VLBI synthetic data generation pipeline
• A probabilistic approach to phase calibration: I. Effects of source structure on fringe-fitting