Differentiating Disk and Black Hole Driven Jets with EHT Images of Variability in M87

Abstract

Millimetre-wavelength very long baseline interferometric (mm-VLBI) observations of M87 by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) should provide a unique opportunity to observe and characterize the origins of jet variability already seen at longer wavelengths. Synchrotron spot models have been used to model variability near black holes; this work extends these by allowing spots to shear and deform in the jet velocity field. Depending on the position of the spot, shearing forces can significantly alter the structure of the spot, producing distinct signals in reconstructed images and light curves. The maximum intensity of the shearing spot can vary by as much as a factor of five depending on the spot azimuthal launch position, but the intensity decay time depends most significantly on the spot radial launch position. Spots launched by a black hole driven jet exhibit distinct arc structures in reconstructed images, and exhibit brighter and shorter-lived enhancements of the light curve. Spots launched by a wind-driven jet have exhibit much simpler structures in the image, and longer-lived light curve enhancements than spots launched by a black hole driven jet.

12 pages, 14 figures, Submitted to MNRAS

References in corpus (14)

• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. I. The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole
• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. VI. The Shadow and Mass of the Central Black Hole
• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. IV. Imaging the Central Supermassive Black Hole
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• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. III. Data Processing and Calibration
• Event-horizon-scale structure in the supermassive black hole candidate at the Galactic Centre
• Jet Launching Structure Resolved Near the Supermassive Black Hole in M87
• General relativistic magnetohydrodynamical simulations of the jet in M87
• Kinematics of the jet in M87 on scales of 100 -- 1000 Schwarzschild radii
• High-Sensitivity 86GHz (3.5mm) VLBI Observations of M87: Deep Imaging of the Jet Base at a 10 Schwarzschild-Radius Resolution
• Dynamics and High Energy Emission of the Flaring HST-1 Knot in the M 87 Jet
• Recollimation and Radiative Focusing of Relativistic Jets: Applications to Blazars and M87
• Observations of the Structure and Dynamics of the Inner M87 Jet

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Polarized Image of Equatorial Emission in the Kerr Geometry
• The Photon Ring in M87*
• GRMHD Simulations and Modeling for Jet Formation and Acceleration Region in AGNs
• Properties of Trans-fast Magnetosonic Jets in Black Hole Magnetospheres
• Skylight: a new code for general-relativistic ray-tracing and radiative transfer in arbitrary spacetimes
• Matter density distribution of general relativistic highly magnetized jets driven by black holes
• General relativistic radiation transport: Implications for VLBI/EHT observations of AGN discs, winds and jets
• Investigating the Disk-Jet Structure in M87 through Flux Separation in the Linear and Circular Polarization Images