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Ring Asymmetry and Spin in M87*

Journal Article · · The Astrophysical Journal
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  1. Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States); Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration. et al.
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Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) images of the supermassive black hole M87* depict an asymmetric ring of emission. General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) models of M87* and its accretion disk predict that the amplitude and location of the ring’s peak brightness asymmetry should fluctuate due to turbulence in the source plasma. We compare the observed distribution of brightness asymmetry amplitudes to the simulated distribution in GRMHD models, across varying black hole spin a*. We show that, for strongly magnetized (MAD) models, three epochs of EHT data marginally disfavor ∣a*∣ ≲ 0.2. This is consistent with the Blandford–Znajek model for M87’s jet, which predicts that M87* should have nonzero spin. We show quantitatively how future observations could improve spin constraints and discuss how improved spin constraints could distinguish between differing jet-launching mechanisms and black hole growth scenarios.
Research Organization:
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)
Grant/Contract Number:
89243024CSC000002; AC02-06CH11357; AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
3018453
Report Number(s):
FERMILAB-PUB--26-0003-PPD; oai:inspirehep.net:3096920; arXiv:2601.00394
Journal Information:
The Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 1000; ISSN 0004-637X; ISSN 1538-4357
Publisher:
IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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