Decoding a black hole metric from the interferometric pattern of the relativistic images of a compact source

Abstract

Photons emitted by light sources in the neighbourhood of a black hole can wind several times around it before fleeing towards the observer. For spherically symmetric black holes, two infinite sequences of images are created for any given source, asymptotically approaching the shadow border with decreasing magnitude. These sequences are reflected by a characteristic staircase structure in the complex visibility function that may be used to decode the properties of the black hole metric. Recalling the formalism of gravitational lensing in the strong deflection limit, we derive analytical formulae for the height, the width and the periodicities of the steps in the visibility as functions of the black hole parameters for the case of a single compact and distant source. With respect to diffuse emission by the whole accretion flow, this ideal framework provides clean insight and model-independent information on the metric. These basic formulae can then be used to build visibilities for more complicated sources and track the changes induced by alternative metrics and ultimately test General Relativity. As simple examples, we include visibilities for Reissner-Nordström and Janis-Newman-Winicour metrics.

arXiv comment20 pages, 8 figures

References in corpus (52)

• 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
• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. V. Physical Origin of the Asymmetric Ring
• Viewing the Shadow of the Black Hole at the Galactic Center
• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. II. Array and Instrumentation
• Schwarzschild black hole lensing
• Geodesic stability, Lyapunov exponents and quasinormal modes
• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. III. Data Processing and Calibration
• Gravitational lensing in the strong field limit
• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. VIII. Magnetic Field Structure near The Event Horizon
• Black Hole Shadows, Photon Rings, and Lensing Rings
• Calculating black hole shadows: Review of analytical studies
• The geometry of photon surfaces
• Testing the rotational nature of the supermassive object M87* from the circularity and size of its first image
• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. VII. Polarization of the Ring
• Light ring stability in ultra-compact objects
• Universal Interferometric Signatures of a Black Hole's Photon Ring
• Hunting for extra dimensions in the shadow of M87*
• Reissner-Nordstrom black hole lensing
• Gravitational Lensing by Black Holes
• Black holes with scalar hair in light of the Event Horizon Telescope
• The Shape of the Black Hole Photon Ring: A Precise Test of Strong-Field General Relativity
• Constraining the spin and the deformation parameters from the black hole shadow
• Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE): I. Improved exoplanet detection yield estimates for a large mid-infrared space-interferometer mission
• Connection between black-hole quasinormal modes and lensing in the strong deflection limit
• Observing the Inner Shadow of a Black Hole: A Direct View of the Event Horizon
• Analytic Kerr black hole lensing for equatorial observers in the strong deflection limit
• Constraints on a charge in the Reissner--Nordström metric for the black hole at the Galactic Center
• Stellar Dynamics and Stellar Phenomena Near A Massive Black Hole
• Time Delay in Black Hole Gravitational Lensing as a Distance Estimator
• Concerns regarding the use of black hole shadows as standard rulers
• Strong deflection limit of black hole gravitational lensing with arbitrary source distances
• Universal Polarimetric Signatures of the Black Hole Photon Ring
• The Size, Shape, and Scattering of Sagittarius A* at 86 GHz: First VLBI with ALMA
• Constraining alternatives to the Kerr black hole
• Photon Ring Autocorrelations
• On the Observable Shape of Black Hole Photon Rings
• Simulations of imaging the event horizon of Sagittarius A* from space
• Black hole shadow as a standard ruler in cosmology
• Optical caustics of Kerr spacetime: the full structure
• Simulations of M87 and Sgr A* Imaging with the Millimetron Space Observatory on near-Earth orbits
• Black Hole Glimmer Signatures of Mass, Spin, and Inclination
• Unraveling circular polarimetric images of magnetically arrested accretion flows near event horizon of a black hole
• Silhouettes of invisible black holes
• Strong gravitational lensing and black hole quasinormal modes: Towards a semiclassical unified description
• On the approximation of the black hole shadow with a simple polar curve
• Event horizon image within black hole shadow
• Establishing a universal relation between gravitational waves and black hole lensing
• Testing General Relativity with the Black Hole Shadow Size and Asymmetry of Sagittarius A*: Limitations from Interstellar Scattering
• DARWIN mission proposal to ESA
• Light echos and coherent autocorrelations in a black hole spacetime

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Analytical study of higher-order ring images of accretion disk around black hole
• Gravitational lensing by a photon sphere in a Reissner-Nordström naked singularity spacetime in strong deflection limits
• Gravitational lensing by using the 0th order of affine perturbation series of the deflection angle of a ray near a photon sphere
• Gravitational lensing by a Bronnikov-Kim wormhole under a weak-field approximation and in a strong deflection limit
• Retrolensing by light rays slightly inside and outside of a photon sphere around a Reissner-Nordström naked singularity