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

Abstract

In this paper, we provide a first physical interpretation for the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)'s 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 (GRMHD) simulations, including aligned, tilted, and stellar wind-fed simulations; radiative transfer is performed assuming both thermal and non-thermal 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 (MAD) models and a large fraction of weakly magnetized (SANE) models. A number of models fail only the variability constraints. We identify a promising cluster of these models, which are MAD and have inclination $i\le$ 30${}^{\circ }$. They have accretion rate $(5.2$-$9.5)\times 10^{-9}{M}_{\odot }$yr${}^{-1}$, bolometric luminosity $(6.8$--$9.2)\times 10^{35}$ erg s${}^{-1}$, and outflow power $(1.3$--$4.8)\times 10^{38}$ erg s${}^{-1}$. We also find that: all models with $i\ge$ 70${}^{\circ }$ fail at least two constraints, as do all models with equal ion and electron temperature; exploratory, non-thermal model sets tend to have higher 2.2 $\mu$m flux density; 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.

62 pages, 35 figures, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on May 12, 2022. See the published paper for the full authors list

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