Search

We report the first observation of the nearby giant radio galaxy NGC 315 using a global VLBI array consisting of 22 radio antennas located across five continents, including high-sensitivity stations, at 22 GHz. Utilizing the extensive $(u,v)$-coverage provided by the array, coupled with the application of a recently developed super-resolution imaging technique based on the regularized maximum likelihood method, we were able to transversely resolve the NGC 315 jet at parsec scales for the first time. Previously known for its central ridge-brightened morphology at similar scales in former VLBI studies, the jet now clearly exhibits a limb-brightened structure. This finding suggests an inherent limb-brightening that was not observable before due to limited angular resolution. Considering that the jet is viewed at an angle of $\sim50^\circ$, the observed limb-brightening is challenging to reconcile with the magnetohydrodynamic models and simulations, which predict that the Doppler-boosted jet edges should dominate over the non-boosted central layer. The conventional jet model that proposes a fast spine and a slow sheath with uniform transverse emissivity may pertain to our observations. However, in this model, the relativistic spine would need to travel at speeds of $\Gamma\gtrsim6.0-12.9$ along the de-projected jet distance of (2.3-10.8) $\times 10^3$ gravitational radii from the black hole. We propose an alternative scenario that suggests higher emissivity at the jet boundary layer, resulting from more efficient particle acceleration or mass loading onto the jet edges, and consider prospects for future observations with even higher angular resolution., Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters

Brillouin optical correlation-domain reflectometry (BOCDR) is unique in its ability to measure distributed strain and temperature changes along a fiber under test (FUT) from a single end, offering random access and relatively high spatial resolution, making it promising for infrastructure monitoring. BOCDR achieves spatial resolution through frequency modulation of the laser output, and this modulation frequency determines the measurement position, necessitating accurate association of modulation frequencies with positions on the FUT. However, a practical method to precisely correlate modulation frequency values with FUT positions has not yet been proposed. This study introduces a method leveraging the change in Rayleigh noise spectrum with modulation frequency to accurately associate these frequencies with positions on the FUT. The effectiveness of this method is proved through distributed strain measurement., Comment: 5 pages, 9 figures

Accretion physics has become more important recently due to the detection of the first horizon-scale images of the super-massive black holes of M\,87$^*$ and Sgr~A$^*$ by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of magnetized accretion flows onto a Kerr black hole have been used to interpret them. However, further testing the theory of gravity by using horizon-scale images requires performing consistent GRMHD simulations in non-Kerr spacetime. In this paper, we revisited the hydrodynamical equilibrium solution of the Fishbone and Moncrief (FM) torus that can be used to study any stationary, axisymmetric, vacuum, or non-vacuum spacetime. Further, we check the stability of the FM torus in non-Kerr spacetime by general relativistic hydrodynamic simulations. We find that FM torus in non-Kerr spacetime is indeed stable under long-term evolution. We conclude that the generalized FM torus solution would be very useful for creating new GRMHD libraries in extended Kerr black holes.

Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) is a space VLBI mission concept, which can probe the black hole spacetime and the plasma properties including the magnetic fields of the accretion flows and relativistic jets. We propose science cases anticipated to be addressed by BHEX mainly via the imaging of the target objects, whose observational features appear in several microarcsecond scale. An appearance of a crescent-shaped shadow in a bright state of the M87 will be able to constrain the magnitude of the black hole spin. A possible appearance of the plasma injection region in the vicinity of the black hole results in the formation of the multiple ring structure and may enable us to understand the jet formation processes. In addition, The separation of linear and circular polarization fluxes and reversal of circular polarization will constrain the magnetic field structure and the thermal properties of the electrons, respectively. Other topics including the test of the gravitational theory are also being discussed., Comment: 14 pages, 4figures, Proceedings of SPIE 2024

The Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) is a next-generation space very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) mission concept that will extend the ground-based millimeter/submillimeter arrays into space. The mission, closely aligned with the science priorities of the Japanese VLBI community, involves an active engagement of this community in the development of the mission, resulting in the formation of the Black Hole Explorer Japan Consortium. Here we present the current Japanese vision for the mission, ranging from scientific objectives to instrumentation. The Consortium anticipates a wide range of scientific investigations, from diverse black hole physics and astrophysics studied through the primary VLBI mode, to the molecular universe explored via a potential single-dish observation mode in the previously unexplored 50-70\,GHz band that would make BHEX the highest-sensitivity explorer ever of molecular oxygen. A potential major contribution for the onboard instrument involves supplying essential elements for its high-sensitivity dual-band receiving system, which includes a broadband 300\,GHz SIS mixer and a space-certified multi-stage 4.5K cryocooler akin to those used in the Hitomi and XRISM satellites by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Additionally, the Consortium explores enhancing and supporting BHEX operations through the use of millimeter/submillimeter facilities developed by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, coupled with a network of laser communication stations operated by the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology., Comment: Submitted to SPIE Conference Series, 17 pages for the main text, 33 pages for the references, 4 figures, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2024

Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) images of the horizon-scale emission around the Galactic Center supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) favor accretion flow models with a jet component. However, this jet has not been conclusively detected. Using the "best-bet" models of Sgr A* from the EHT collaboration, we assess whether this non-detection is expected for current facilities and explore the prospects of detecting a jet with VLBI at four frequencies: 86, 115, 230, and 345 GHz. We produce synthetic image reconstructions for current and next-generation VLBI arrays at these frequencies that include the effects of interstellar scattering, optical depth, and time variability. We find that no existing VLBI arrays are expected to detect the jet in these best-bet models, consistent with observations to-date. We show that next-generation VLBI arrays at 86 and 115 GHz -- in particular, the EHT after upgrades through the ngEHT program and the ngVLA -- successfully capture the jet in our tests due to improvements in instrument sensitivity and (u,v) coverage at spatial scales critical to jet detection. These results highlight the potential of enhanced VLBI capabilities in the coming decade to reveal the crucial properties of Sgr A* and its interaction with the Galactic Center environment., Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, submitted to ApJ

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has revolutionized our ability to study black holes by providing unprecedented spatial resolution and unveiling horizon-scale details. With advancements leading to the next-generation EHT, there is potential to probe even deeper into the black hole's dark region, especially the inner shadow characterized by low-intensity foreground emissions from the jet, thanks to a significant enhancement in dynamic range by two orders of magnitude. We demonstrate how such enhanced observations could transform supermassive black holes into powerful probes for detecting annihilating dark matter, which can form a dense profile in the vicinity of supermassive black holes, by examining the morphology of the black hole image., Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, references updated

Recent years have seen a significant progress in the development of general relativistic codes for the numerical solution of the equations of magnetohydrodynamics in spacetimes with high and dynamical curvature. These codes are valuable tools to explore the large-scale plasma dynamics such as that takes place when two neutron stars collide or when matter accretes onto a supermassive black hole. This chapter is meant to provide a very brief but complete overview of the set of equations that are normally solved in modern numerical codes after they are cast into a conservative formulation within a 3+1 split of spacetime., Comment: 27 pages, 2 figures, Invited chapter for the edited book "New Frontiers in GRMHD Simulations" (Eds. C. Bambi, Y. Mizuno, S. Shashank and F. Yuan, Springer Singapore, expected in 2024), Comments and suggestions on missed references are welcome

High-resolution radio observations of nearby active galactic nuclei have revealed extended, limb-brightened structures in their inner jets. This ties in with other multi-wavelength observations from radio to X-ray and gamma-ray, indicating that a structured jet model is required. While electrons need to be kept energized to account for the observed features, the underlying particle acceleration mechanism is still unclear. We explore the role of stochastic Fermi-type particle acceleration, i.e., classical second-order Fermi and shear acceleration, for understanding the multi-wavelength observations of the inner jets of M87. An analytical Fokker-Planck description is adopted to infer characteristic spectral indices and cutoff energies for these two mechanisms. We focus on electron synchrotron radiation as the dominant emission process. We find that the multi-wavelength observations of M87 can be satisfactorily accounted for in a framework, where the X-rays are produced at a larger distance from the core than the radio emission region. This provides further support to multi-zone, broadband emission modelling. We use our findings to also comment on the acceleration of cosmic rays entrained in the sheath., Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, accepted to ApJ

The properties of relativistic jets, their interaction with the environment, and their emission of radiation can be self-consistently studied by using particle-in-cell (PIC) numerical simulations. Using three-dimensional (3D), relativistic PIC simulations, we present the first self-consistently calculated synthetic spectra of head-on and off-axis emission from electrons accelerated in cylindrical, relativistic plasma jets containing an initial toroidal magnetic field. The jet particles are initially accelerated during the linear stage of growing plasma instabilities, which are the Weibel instability (WI), kinetic Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (kKHI), and mushroom instability (MI). In the nonlinear stage, these instabilities are dissipated and generate turbulent magnetic fields which accelerate particles further. We calculate the synthetic spectra by tracing a large number of jet electrons in the nonlinear stage, near the jet head where the magnetic fields are turbulent. Our results show the basic properties of jitter-like radiation emitted by relativistic electrons when they travel through a magnetized plasma with the plasma waves driven by kinetic instabilities (WI, kKHI, and MI) growing into the nonlinear regime. At low frequencies, the slope of the spectrum is ~ 0.94, which is similar to that of the jitter radiation. The results are relevant to active galactic nuclei/blazars and gamma-ray burst jet emission and set the ground for future studies on synthetic spectra from relativistic jets., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, submitted to MNRAS

The recent 230 GHz observations from the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration can image the innermost structure of the M87 galaxy showing the shadow of the black hole, a photon ring, and a ring-like structure that agrees with thermal synchrotron emission from the accretion disc. However, at lower frequencies, M87 is characterized by a large-scale jet with clear signatures of nonthermal emission. It is necessary to explore the impacts of nonthermal emission on black hole shadow images and extended jets, especially at lower frequencies. In this study, we aim to compare models with different electron heating prescriptions and investigate how these prescriptions and nonthermal electron distributions may affect black hole shadow images and the broadband spectrum energy distribution (SED) function. We performed general relativistic radiative transfer (GRRT) calculations in various two-temperature general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) models utilizing different black hole spins and different electron heating prescriptions coupled with different electron distribution functions (eDFs). Through a comparison with GRRT images and SEDs, we found that when considering a variable kappa eDF, the parameterized prescription of the R-beta model with Rh = 1 is similar to the model with electron heating in the morphology of images, and the SEDs at a high-frequency. This is consistent with previous studies using the thermal eDF. However, the nuance between them could be differentiated through the diffuse extended structure seen in GRRT images, especially at a lower frequency, and the behavior of SEDs at low frequency. The emission from the nearside jet region is enhanced in the reconnection heating case and it will increase the contribution from the regions with stronger magnetization is included or if the magnetic energy contribution to kappa eDF mainly in the magnetized regions is considered., Comment: 17 pages, 17 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

Flux ropes erupting from the vicinity of the black hole are thought to be a potential model for the flares observed in Sgr\,A$^*$. In this study, we examine the radiative properties of flux ropes that emerged from the vicinity of the black hole. We have performed three-dimensional two-temperature General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of magnetized accretion flows with alternating multiple magnetic loops, and General Relativistic Radiation Transfer (GRRT) calculations. In GRMHD simulations, two different sizes of initial magnetic loops are implemented. In the small loop case, magnetic dissipation leads to a weaker excitement of magneto-rotational instability inside the torus which generates a lower accretion rate compared to the large loop case. However, it makes more generation of flux ropes due to frequent reconnection by magnetic loops with different polarities. By calculating the thermal synchrotron emission, we found that the variability of light curves and emitting region are tightly related. At $230\,\rm GHz$ and higher frequency, the emission from the flux ropes is relatively stronger compared with the background, which is responsible for the filamentary structure in the images. At lower frequencies, e.g. $43\,\rm GHz$, emission comes from more extended regions, which have a less filamentary structure in the image. Our study shows self-consistent electron temperature models are essential for the calculation of thermal synchrotron radiation and the morphology of the GRRT images. Flux ropes contribute considerable emission at frequencies $\gtrsim 230\,\rm GHz$., Comment: 14 pages, 17 figures. Accepted by A&A

An essential factor in determining the flow characteristics of an accretion flow is its angular momentum. According to the angular momentum of the flow, semi-analytical analysis suggests various types of accretion solutions. It is critical to test it with numerical simulations using the most advanced framework available (general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics) to understand how flow changes with different angular momentum. By changing the initial condition of the accretion torus minimally, we can simulate steady, low angular momentum accretion flow around a Kerr black hole. We focus primarily on the lower limits of angular momentum and come upon that accretion flow with an intermediate range of angular momentum differs significantly from high or very low angular momentum flow. The intermediate angular momentum accretion flow has the highest density, pressure, and temperature near the black hole, making it easier to observe. We find that the density and pressure have power-law scalings $\rho\propto r^{n-3/2}$ and $p_g\propto r^{n-5/2}$ which only hold for very low angular momentum cases. With the increase in flow angular momentum, it develops a non-axisymmetric nature. In this case, simple self-similarity does not hold. We also find that the sonic surface moves away from the innermost stable circular orbit as its angular momentum decreases. Finally, we emphasize that intermediate angular momentum flow could provide a possible solution to explain the complex observation features of the supermassive black hole Sgr~A$^*$ at our galactic center., Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

The formation of jets in black hole accretion systems is a long-standing problem. It has been proposed that a jet can be formed by extracting the rotation energy of the black hole ("BZ-jet") or the accretion flow ("disk-jet"). While both models can produce collimated relativistic outflows, neither has successfully explained the observed jet morphology. By employing general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations, and considering nonthermal electrons accelerated by magnetic reconnection that is likely driven by magnetic eruption in the underlying accretion flow, we obtain images by radiative transfer calculations and compared them to millimeter observations of the jet in M87. We find that the BZ-jet originating from a magnetically arrested disk around a high-spin black hole can well reproduce the jet morphology, including its width and limb-brightening feature., Comment: 46 pages, 20 figures, 3 tables, published in Science Advances on 22 Mar 2024. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2206.05661

The Blandford-Znajek (BZ) process powers energetic jets by extracting the rotating energy of a Kerr black hole. It is important to understand this process in non-Kerr black hole spacetimes. In this study, we conduct two-dimensional and three-dimensional two-temperature General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of magnetized accretion flows onto a rotating Loop-Quantum black hole (LQBH). Our investigation focuses on the accretion flow structure and jet launching dynamics from our simulations. We observe that the loop quantum effects increase the black hole angular frequency for spinning black holes.This phenomenon intensifies the frame-dragging effect, leading to an amplification of the toroidal magnetic field within the funnel region and enhancement of the launching jet power. It is possible to fit the jet power following a similar fitting formula of the black hole angular frequency as seen in the Kerr black hole. Based on the General Relativistic Radiation Transfer (GRRT) calculation, we find that the jet image from LQBH has a wider opening angle and an extended structure than the Kerr BH., Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures. A JCAP. Accepted by JCAP

In this study, we delve into the observational implications of rotating Loop Quantum Black Holes (LQBHs) within an astrophysical framework. We employ semi-analytical General Relativistic Radiative Transfer (GRRT) computations to study the emission from the accretion flow around LQBHs. Our findings indicate that the increase of Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) effects results in an enlargement of the rings from LQBHs, thereby causing a more circular polarization pattern in the shadow images. We make comparisons with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations of Sgr\,A$^*$ and M\,87$^*$, which enable us to determine an upper limit for the polymetric function $P$ in LQG. The upper limit for Sgr\,A$^*$ is $0.2$, while for M\,87$^*$ it is $0.07$. Both black holes exhibit a preference for a relatively high spin ($a\gtrsim0.5$ for Sgr\,A$^*$ and $0.5\lesssim a \lesssim 0.7$ for M\,87$^*$). The constraints for Sgr\,A$^*$ are based on black hole spin and ring diameter, whereas for M\,87$^*$, the constraints are further tightened by the polarimetric pattern. In essence, our simulations provide observational constraints on the effect of LQG in supermassive black holes (SMBH), providing the most consistent comparison with observation.

In this paper, we introduce a novel data augmentation methodology based on Conditional Progressive Generative Adversarial Networks (CPGAN) to generate diverse black hole (BH) images, accounting for variations in spin and electron temperature prescriptions. These generated images are valuable resources for training deep learning algorithms to accurately estimate black hole parameters from observational data. Our model can generate BH images for any spin value within the range of [-1, 1], given an electron temperature distribution. To validate the effectiveness of our approach, we employ a convolutional neural network to predict the BH spin using both the GRMHD images and the images generated by our proposed model. Our results demonstrate a significant performance improvement when training is conducted with the augmented dataset while testing is performed using GRMHD simulated data, as indicated by the high R2 score. Consequently, we propose that GANs can be employed as cost effective models for black hole image generation and reliably augment training datasets for other parameterization algorithms., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures. Accepted by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Journal

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration has recently published the first horizon-scale images of the supermassive black holes M87* and Sgr A* and provided some first information on the physical conditions in their vicinity. The comparison between the observations and the three-dimensional general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations has enabled the EHT to set initial constraints on the properties of these black-hole spacetimes. However, accurately distinguishing the properties of the accretion flow from those of the spacetime, most notably, the black-hole mass and spin, remains challenging because of the degeneracies the emitted radiation suffers when varying the properties of the plasma and those of the spacetime. The next-generation EHT (ngEHT) observations are expected to remove some of these degeneracies by exploring the complex interplay between the disk-jet dynamics, which represents one of the most promising tools for extracting information on the black-hole spin. By using GRMHD simulations of magnetically arrested disks (MADs) and general-relativistic radiative-transfer (GRRT) calculations of the emitted radiation, we have studied the properties of the jet and the accretion-disk dynamics on spatial scales that are comparable with the horizon. In this way, we are able to highlight that the radial and azimuthal dynamics of the jet are well correlated with the black-hole spin. Based on the resolution and image reconstruction capabilities of the ngEHT observations of M87*, we can assess the detectability and associated uncertainty of this correlation. Overall, our results serve to assess what are the prospects for constraining the black-hole spin with future EHT observations., Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Recently the Event Horizon Telescope observed black holes at event horizon scales for the first time, enabling us to now test the existence of event horizons. Although event horizons have by definition no observable features, one can look for their non-existence. In that case, it is likely that there is some kind of surface, which like any other surface could absorb (and thermally emit) and/or reflect radiation. In this paper, we study the potential observable features of such rotating reflecting surfaces. We construct a general description of reflecting surfaces in arbitrary spacetimes. This is used to define specific models for static and rotating reflecting surfaces, of which we study the corresponding light paths and synthetic images. This is done by numerical integration of the geodesic equation and by the use of the general relativistic radiative transfer code RAPTOR. The reflecting surface creates an infinite set of ring-like features in synthetic images inside the photon ring. There is a central ring in the middle and higher order rings subsequently lie exterior to each other converging to the photon ring. The shape and size of the ring features change only slightly with the radius of the surface R, spin a and inclination i, resulting in all cases in features inside the 'shadow region'. We conclude that rotating reflecting surfaces have clear observable features and that the Event Horizon Telescope is able to observe the difference between reflecting surfaces and an event horizon for high reflectivities. Such reflecting surface models can be excluded, which strengthens the conclusion that the black hole shadow indeed indicates the existence of an event horizon., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures; submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics

Supermassive black holes at the centre of active galactic nuclei power some of the most luminous objects in the Universe. Typically, very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations of blazars have revealed only funnel-like morphologies with little information of the ejected plasma internal structure, or lacked the sufficient dynamic range to reconstruct the extended jet emission. Here we show microarcsecond-scale angular resolution images of the blazar 3C 279 obtained at 22 GHz with the space VLBI mission RadioAstron, which allowed us to resolve the jet transversely and reveal several filaments produced by plasma instabilities in a kinetically dominated flow. Our high angular resolution and dynamic range image suggests that emission features traveling down the jet may manifest as a result of differential Doppler-boosting within the filaments, as opposed to the standard shock-in-jet model invoked to explain blazar jet radio variability. Moreover, we infer that the filaments in 3C 279 are possibly threaded by a helical magnetic field rotating clockwise, as seen in the direction of the flow motion, with an intrinsic helix pitch angle of ~45 degrees in a jet with a Lorentz factor of ~13 at the time of observation., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures. Initial version of an article published in Nature Astronomy

The nearby radio galaxy M87 offers a unique opportunity to explore the connections between the central supermassive black hole and relativistic jets. Previous studies of the inner region of M87 revealed a wide opening angle for the jet originating near the black hole. The Event Horizon Telescope resolved the central radio source and found an asymmetric ring structure consistent with expectations from General Relativity. With a baseline of 17 years of observations, there was a shift in the jet's transverse position, possibly arising from an eight to ten-year quasi-periodicity. However, the origin of this sideways shift remains unclear. Here we report an analysis of radio observations over 22 years that suggests a period of about 11 years in the position angle variation of the jet. We infer that we are seeing a spinning black hole that induces the Lense-Thirring precession of a misaligned accretion disk. Similar jet precession may commonly occur in other active galactic nuclei but has been challenging to detect owing to the small magnitude and long period of the variation., Comment: 41 pages, 7 figures, 7 tables

Recent polarimetric mm-observations of the galactic centre by Wielgus et al. (2022a) showed sinusoidal loops in the Q-U plane with a duration of one hour. The loops coincide with a quasi-simultaneous X-ray flare. A promising mechanism to explain the flaring events are magnetic flux eruptions in magnetically arrested accretion flows (MAD). In our previous work (Porth et al. 2021), we studied the accretion flow dynamics during flux eruptions. Here, we extend our previous study by investigating whether polarization loops can be a signature produced by magnetic flux eruptions. We find that loops in the Q-U plane are robustly produced in MAD models as they lead to enhanced emissivity of compressed disk material due to orbiting flux bundles. A timing analysis of the synthetic polarized lightcurves demonstrate a polarized excess variability at timescales of ~ 1 hr. The polarization loops are also clearly imprinted on the cross-correlation of the Stokes parameters which allows to extract a typical periodicity of 30 min to 1 hr with some evidence for a spin dependence. These results are intrinsic to the MAD state and should thus hold for a wide range of astrophysical objects. A subset of GRMHD simulations without saturated magnetic flux (single temperature SANE models) also produces Q-U loops. However, in disagreement with the findings of Wielgus et al. (2022a), loops in these simulations are quasi-continuous with a low polarization excess, Comment: submitted to MNRAS

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observed in 2017 the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), at a frequency of 228.1 GHz ($\lambda$=1.3 mm). The fundamental physics tests that even a single pulsar orbiting Sgr A* would enable motivate searching for pulsars in EHT datasets. The high observing frequency means that pulsars - which typically exhibit steep emission spectra - are expected to be very faint. However, it also negates pulse scattering, an effect that could hinder pulsar detections in the Galactic Center. Additionally, magnetars or a secondary inverse Compton emission could be stronger at millimeter wavelengths than at lower frequencies. We present a search for pulsars close to Sgr A* using the data from the three most-sensitive stations in the EHT 2017 campaign: the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, the Large Millimeter Telescope and the IRAM 30 m Telescope. We apply three detection methods based on Fourier-domain analysis, the Fast-Folding-Algorithm and single pulse search targeting both pulsars and burst-like transient emission; using the simultaneity of the observations to confirm potential candidates. No new pulsars or significant bursts were found. Being the first pulsar search ever carried out at such high radio frequencies, we detail our analysis methods and give a detailed estimation of the sensitivity of the search. We conclude that the EHT 2017 observations are only sensitive to a small fraction ($\lesssim$2.2%) of the pulsars that may exist close to Sgr A*, motivating further searches for fainter pulsars in the region., Comment: 33 pages, 7 figures, 6 Tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Accretion of magnetized gas on compact astrophysical objects such as black holes has been successfully modeled using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations. These simulations have largely been performed in the Kerr metric, which describes the spacetime of a vacuum and stationary spinning black hole (BH) in general relativity (GR). The simulations have revealed important clues on the physics of accretion and jets near the BH event horizon, and have been used to interpret recent Event Horizon Telescope images of the supermassive BHs, M87$^*$ and Sgr A$^*$. GRMHD simulations require the spacetime metric in horizon-penetrating coordinates such that all metric coefficients are regular at the event horizon. The Kerr metric and its electrically charged spinning analog, the Kerr-Newman metric, are currently the only metrics available in such coordinates. We report here horizon-penetrating forms of a large class of stationary, axisymmetric, spinning metrics. These can be used to carry out GRMHD simulations of accretion on spinning, nonvacuum BHs and non-BHs within GR, as well as accretion on spinning objects described by non-GR metric theories of gravity., Comment: Corrected typo in eqs. 23, C20

We extend the measurement range of optical correlation-domain reflectometry (OCDR) by modulating the laser output frequency at two frequencies, while preserving spatial resolution. We demonstrate distributed reflectivity sensing with a ten-fold extended measurement range., Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures

We present a new approach for measuring fiber tip temperature using low-coherence Brillouin optical correlation-domain reflectometry, which eliminates the need for an independent reference path and does not entail specific processing of the fiber tip., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

It is believed that the spectral state transitions of the outbursts in X-ray binaries (XRBs) are triggered by the rise of the mass accretion rate due to underlying disc instabilities. Recent observations found that characteristics of disc winds are probably connected with the different spectral states, but the theoretical underpinnings of it are highly ambiguous. To understand the correlation between disc winds and the dynamics of the accretion flow, we have performed General Relativistic Magneto-hydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of an axisymmetric thin accretion disc with different accretion rates and magnetic field strengths. Our simulations have shown that the dynamics and the temperature properties depend on both accretion rates and magnetic field strengths. We later found that these properties greatly influence spectral properties. We calculated the average coronal temperature for different simulation models, which is correlated with high-energy Compton emission. Our simulation models reveal that the average coronal temperature is anti-correlated with the accretion rates, which is correlated with the magnetic field strengths. We also found that the structured component of the disc winds (Blandford-Payne disc wind) predominates as the accretion rates and magnetic field strengths increase. In contrast, the turbulent component of the disc winds ($B_{\rm tor}$ disc wind) predominates as the accretion rates and magnetic field strengths decrease. Our results suggest that the disc winds during an outburst in XRBs can only be understood if the magnetic field contribution varies over time (e.g., MAXI J1820+070)., Comment: 15 pages, 16 figures

The spatial resolution of direct-modulation Brillouin optical correlation-domain reflectometry is studied with respect to modulation amplitude and frequency. Results suggest that optimal resolution improvement is achieved by increasing modulation amplitude first, followed by frequency., Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures

We show that the systematic error unique to Brillouin optical correlation-domain reflectometry (BOCDR) can be effectively suppressed by use of low-coherence light, and demonstrate distributed strain measurement with ~3 cm spatial resolution., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures

We have performed a series of two-dimensional two-temperature general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of magnetized accretion flows initiated from tori with different sizes and poloidal magnetic loop polarities. In these two temperature simulations, we trace the process of heating electrons through turbulence and reconnection, most of the time these electrons are trapped in plasmoids. We found that the accretion process strongly depends on the size of the magnetic loops. The accretion flows never reach the magnetically arrested (MAD) regime in small loop cases. Interaction between magnetic field with different polarities dissipates and decreases the efficiency of magneto-rotational instability. The dependency on the wavelength of the loops places a lower limit on the loop size. In the large loop cases, after reaching a quasi-steady phase, a transition from Standard And Normal Evolution (SANE) flow to MAD flow is observed. The transition of the accretion state and the transition time depends on the initial loop wavelength. The formation of plasmoids strongly depends on the size of the magnetic loops. The frequent magnetic reconnection between the magnetic loops is responsible for the formation of most of the plasmoids. For some plasmoids, Kelvin-Helmholtz and tearing instabilities are coexisting, showing another channel of plasmoid formation. The simulations present that electrons in the plasmoids are well-heated up by turbulent and magnetic reconnection. Different properties of plasmoid formation in different magnetic field configurations provide new insights for the understanding of flaring activity and electron thermodynamics in Sgr A*., Comment: 18 pages, 25 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Interpretation of resolved polarized images of black holes by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) requires predictions of the polarized emission observable by an Earth-based instrument for a particular model of the black hole accretion system. Such predictions are generated by general relativistic radiative transfer (GRRT) codes, which integrate the equations of polarized radiative transfer in curved spacetime. A selection of ray-tracing GRRT codes used within the EHT collaboration is evaluated for accuracy and consistency in producing a selection of test images, demonstrating that the various methods and implementations of radiative transfer calculations are highly consistent. When imaging an analytic accretion model, we find that all codes produce images similar within a pixel-wise normalized mean squared error (NMSE) of 0.012 in the worst case. When imaging a snapshot from a cell-based magnetohydrodynamic simulation, we find all test images to be similar within NMSEs of 0.02, 0.04, 0.04, and 0.12 in Stokes I, Q, U , and V respectively. We additionally find the values of several image metrics relevant to published EHT results to be in agreement to much better precision than measurement uncertainties., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

We present a method for measuring the transmission loss of an optical fiber using simplified optical correlation-domain reflectometry. By intentionally lowering the spatial resolution of the system, we observe the Rayleigh scattered signal for the first time without the need for a frequency shifter. Using this method, we simultaneously measure the transmission loss, location, and loss of faulty connections along a 10-km-long fiber under test by performing distributed reflected-power measurements of Rayleigh scattering and Fresnel reflection.

Recent VLBI monitoring has found transverse motions of the M87 jet. However, due to the limited cadence of previous observations, details of the transverse motion have not been fully revealed yet. We have regularly monitored the M87 jet at KVN and VERA Array (KaVA) 22 GHz from December 2013 to June 2016. The average time interval of the observation is ~ 0.1 year, which is suitable for tracking short-term structural changes. From these observations, the M87 jet is well represented by double ridge lines in the region 2 - 12 mas from the core. We found that the ridge lines exhibit transverse oscillations in all observed regions with an average period of $0.94\pm0.12$ years. When the sinusoidal fit is performed, we found that the amplitude of this oscillation is an order of $\sim0.1$ mas, and the oscillations in the northern and southern limbs are almost in phase. Considering the amplitude, it does not originate from Earth's parallax. We propose possible scenarios of the transverse oscillation, such as the propagation of jet instabilities or magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) waves or perturbed mass injection around magnetically dominated accretion flows., Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Contribution to the Galaxies Special Issue "Challenges in Understanding Black Hole Powered Jets with VLBI"

Obtaining high-resolution images at centimeter-or-longer wavelengths is vital for understanding the physics of jets. We reconstructed images from the M87 22 GHz data observed with the East Asian VLBI Network (EAVN) by using the regularized maximum likelihood (RML) method, which is different from the conventional imaging method CLEAN. Consequently, a bright core and jet extending about 30 mas to the northwest were detected with a higher resolution than in the CLEAN image. The width of the jet was 0.5 mas at 0.3 mas from the core, consistent with the width measured in the 86 GHz image in the previous study. In addition, three ridges were able to be detected at around 8 mas from the core, even though the peak-to-peak separation was only 1.0 mas. This indicates that the RML image's spatial resolution is at least 30% higher than that of the CLEAN image. This study is an important step for future multi-frequency and high-cadence observations of the EAVN to discuss the more detailed structure of the jet and its time variability., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, published in Galaxies

In the vicinity of black holes, the influence of strong gravity, plasma physics, and emission processes govern the behavior of the system. Since observations such as those carried out by the EHT are not yet able to unambiguously constrain models for astrophysical and gravitational properties, it is imperative to explore the accretion models, particle distribution function, and description of the spacetime geometry. Our current understanding of these properties is often based on the assumption that the spacetime is well-described by by the Kerr solution to general relativity, combined with basic emission and accretion models. We explore alternative models for each property performing general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic and radiative transfer simulations. By choosing a Kerr solution to general relativity and a dilaton solution to Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton-axion gravity as exemplary black hole background spacetimes, we aim to investigate the influence of accretion and emission models on the ability to distinguish black holes in two theories of gravity. We carry out three-dimensional general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations of both black holes, matched at their innermost stable circular orbit, in two distinct accretion scenarios. Using general-relativistic radiative transfer calculations, we model the thermal synchrotron emission and in the next step apply a non-thermal electron distribution function, exploring representative parameters to compare with multiwavelength observations. We further consider Kerr and dilaton black holes matched at their unstable circular photon orbits, as well as their event horizons. From multiwavelength emission and spectral index analysis, we find that accretion model and spacetime have only a small impact on the spectra compared to the choice of emission model.

BL Lacertae had undergone a series of historical high flux activity over a year, from August 2020 in the optical to VHE $\gamma$-rays. In this paper, we report on optical flux and spectral variability of the first historical maxima outburst event during October-November in g, r and i bands with the 1.26m telescope at Xinglong observatory, China. We detected significant intranight variations with amplitude rising up to $\sim 30$%, when the fastest variability timescale is found to be a few tens of minutes, giving an emitting region size of the order $10^{-3}$ pc, which corresponds to $\sim 100$ Schwarzschild radius of the central black hole, likely coming from some jet mini-structures. Unlike on intranight timescale, a clear frequency dependent pattern along with symmetric timescales ($\sim$ 11d) of flux variation are detected on long timescale. The spectral evolution was predominated by flattening of the spectra with increasing brightness i.e., a bluer-when-brighter trend in 96% of the cases. On the night before the outburst peak, the color indices clustered in two distinct branches in color--magnitude diagram within a period of $\sim$ 6 hours that is connected to a hard-soft-hard spectral evolution trend extracted from time-resolved spectra. Such trend has never seen in BL Lac or any other blazars before to the best of our knowledge. The results obtained in this study can be explained in the context of shock induced particle acceleration or magnetic re-connection in the jet where turbulent processes most likely resulted the asymmetric flux variation on nightly timescale., Comment: 15 pages, 3 tables, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

X-ray observations of several kiloparsec-scale extragalactic jets favour a synchrotron origin. The short cooling times of the emitting electrons requires distributed acceleration of electrons up to sub-PeV energies. In a previous paper, we found that this can be self-consistently explained by a shear acceleration model, where particles are accelerated to produce power-law spectra with a spectral index being determined mainly by the velocity profile and turbulence spectrum. In this paper, we perform 3D relativistic magneto-hydrodynamic simulations to investigate the formation of a spine-sheath structure and the development of turbulence for a relativistic jet propagating into a static cocoon. We explore different spine velocities and magnetic field profiles with values being chosen to match typical Fanaroff-Riley type I/II jets. We find that in all cases a sheath is generated on the interface of the spine and the cocoon mainly due to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. The large scale velocity profile in the sheath is close to linear. Turbulence develops in both the spine and the sheath, with a turbulent velocity spectrum consistent with Kolmogorov-scaling. The implications for shear particle acceleration are explored, with a focus on the particle spectral index., Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in MNRAS

In the past few years, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has provided the first-ever event horizon-scale images of the supermassive black holes (BHs) (M87*) and Sagittarius A$^*$ (Sgr A*). The next-generation EHT project is an extension of the EHT array that promises larger angular resolution and higher sensitivity to the dim, extended flux around the central ring-like structure, possibly connecting the accretion flow and the jet. The ngEHT Analysis Challenges aim to understand the science extractability from synthetic images and movies to inform the ngEHT array design and analysis algorithm development. In this work, we compare the accretion flow structure and dynamics in numerical fluid simulations that specifically target M87* and Sgr A*, and were used to construct the source models in the challenge set. We consider (1) a steady-state axisymmetric radiatively inefficient accretion flow model with a time-dependent shearing hotspot, (2) two time-dependent single fluid general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations from the H-AMR code, (3) a two-temperature GRMHD simulation from the BHAC code, and (4) a two-temperature radiative GRMHD simulation from the KORAL code. We find that the different models exhibit remarkably similar temporal and spatial properties, except for the electron temperature, since radiative losses substantially cool down electrons near the BH and the jet sheath, signaling the importance of radiative cooling even for slowly accreting BHs such as M87*. We restrict ourselves to standard torus accretion flows, and leave larger explorations of alternate accretion models to future work., Comment: Accepted in Galaxies; 23 pages, 7 figures

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has produced images of the plasma flow around the supermassive black holes in Sgr A* and M87* with a resolution comparable to the projected size of their event horizons. Observations with the next-generation Event Horizon Telescope (ngEHT) will have significantly improved Fourier plane coverage and will be conducted at multiple frequency bands (86, 230, and 345 GHz), each with a wide bandwidth. At these frequencies, both Sgr A* and M87* transition from optically thin to optically thick. Resolved spectral index maps in the near-horizon and jet-launching regions of these supermassive black hole sources can constrain properties of the emitting plasma that are degenerate in single-frequency images. In addition, combining information from data obtained at multiple frequencies is a powerful tool for interferometric image reconstruction, since gaps in spatial scales in single-frequency observations can be filled in with information from other frequencies. Here we present a new method of simultaneously reconstructing interferometric images at multiple frequencies along with their spectral index maps. The method is based on existing Regularized Maximum Likelihood (RML) methods commonly used for EHT imaging and is implemented in the eht-imaging Python software library. We show results of this method on simulated ngEHT data sets as well as on real data from the VLBA and ALMA. These examples demonstrate that simultaneous RML multi-frequency image reconstruction produces higher-quality and more scientifically useful results than is possible from combining independent image reconstructions at each frequency., Comment: 25 pages, 15 figures. Accepted to ApJ

We propose a newly configured optical correlation-domain reflectometry (OCDR) without the use of an electrical spectrum analyzer (ESA) for high-speed distributed reflectivity measurement with an enhanced spatial resolution. First, the operation of ESA-free OCDR is analyzed by numerical simulation, the results of which show the potential of the configuration to perform distributed reflectivity measurement with an improved spatial resolution. Subsequently, the simulation results are verified by comparison experiments, where distributed reflectivity measurements along a 32-m-long single-mode fiber joint with multiple connectors are performed using both conventional (with averaging) and ESA-free OCDR configurations (without averaging) at a repetition rate of 100 Hz. The widths of the reflectivity peaks experimentally obtained by the conventional and ESA-free OCDR configurations are 22.9 cm and 7.0 cm, respectively. Finally, we experimentally evaluated the performance of the ESA-free OCDR at higher repetition rates, achieving 6.3-cm spatial resolution at a repetition rate of 1 kHz. This result indicates that the ESA-free OCDR can perform a distributed reflectivity measurement with an improved spatial resolution at a higher operation speed than ever., Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures

We report measurements of the gravitationally lensed secondary image -- the first in an infinite series of so-called "photon rings" -- around the supermassive black hole M87* via simultaneous modeling and imaging of the 2017 Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations. The inferred ring size remains constant across the seven days of the 2017 EHT observing campaign and is consistent with theoretical expectations, providing clear evidence that such measurements probe spacetime and a striking confirmation of the models underlying the first set of EHT results. The residual diffuse emission evolves on timescales comparable to one week. We are able to detect with high significance a southwestern extension consistent with that expected from the base of a jet that is rapidly rotating in the clockwise direction. This result adds further support to the identification of the jet in M87* with a black hole spin-driven outflow, launched via the Blandford-Znajek process. We present three revised estimates for the mass of M87* based on identifying the modeled thin ring component with the bright ringlike features seen in simulated images, one of which is only weakly sensitive to the astrophysics of the emission region. All three estimates agree with each other and previously reported values. Our strongest mass constraint combines information from both the ring and the diffuse emission region, which together imply a mass-to-distance ratio of $4.20^{+0.12}_{-0.06}~\mu{\rm as}$ and a corresponding black hole mass of $(7.13\pm0.39)\times10^9M_\odot$, where the error on the latter is now dominated by the systematic uncertainty arising from the uncertain distance to M87*.

An axion cloud surrounding a supermassive black hole can be naturally produced through the superradiance process. Its existence can be examined by the axion induced birefringence effect. It predicts an oscillation of the electric vector position angle of linearly polarized radiations. Stringent constraints of the existence of the axion in a particular mass window has been obtained based on the recent Event Horizon Telescope measurement on M87$^\star$. The future Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations will be able to measure the vicinity of many supermassive black holes, thus it opens the possibility to search for the existence of axions in a wide mass regime. In this paper, we study how different black hole properties and accretion flows influence the signatures of the axion induced birefringence. We include the impacts of black hole inclination angles, spins, magnetic fields, plasma velocity distributions, the thickness of the accretion flows. We pay special attention to characterize the washout effects induced by the finite thickness of the accretion flows and the lensed photons. Based on this study, we give prospects on how to optimize the axion search using future VLBI observations, such as the next-generation Event Horizon Telescope, to further increase the sensitivity., Comment: 36 pages, 13 figures, published version in JCAP

The blazar J1924-2914 is a primary Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) calibrator for the Galactic Center's black hole Sagittarius A*. Here we present the first total and linearly polarized intensity images of this source obtained with the unprecedented 20 $\mu$as resolution of the EHT. J1924-2914 is a very compact flat-spectrum radio source with strong optical variability and polarization. In April 2017 the source was observed quasi-simultaneously with the EHT (April 5-11), the Global Millimeter VLBI Array (April 3), and the Very Long Baseline Array (April 28), giving a novel view of the source at four observing frequencies, 230, 86, 8.7, and 2.3 GHz. These observations probe jet properties from the subparsec to 100-parsec scales. We combine the multi-frequency images of J1924-2914 to study the source morphology. We find that the jet exhibits a characteristic bending, with a gradual clockwise rotation of the jet projected position angle of about 90 degrees between 2.3 and 230 GHz. Linearly polarized intensity images of J1924-2914 with the extremely fine resolution of the EHT provide evidence for ordered toroidal magnetic fields in the blazar compact core.

Simplified assumptions about the thermodynamics of the electrons are normally employed in general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of accretion onto black holes. To counter this, we have developed a self-consistent approach to study magnetised and radiatively cooled two-temperature accretion flows around a Kerr black hole in two spatial dimensions. The approach includes several heating processes, radiative cooling, and a coupling between the electrons and the ions via Coulomb interaction. We test our approach by performing axisymmetric GRMHD simulations of magnetised tori accreting onto a Kerr black hole under various astrophysical scenarios. In this way, we find that the inclusion of the Coulomb interaction and the radiative cooling impacts the thermodynamical properties of both the ions and electrons, changing significantly the temperature distribution of the latter, and underlining the importance of a two-temperature approach when imaging these flows. In addition, we find that the accretion rate influences the bulk properties of the flow as well as the thermodynamics of the electrons and ions. Interestingly, we observe qualitatively distinct temperature properties for SANE and MAD accretion modes while maintaining the same accretion rates, which could help distinguishing MAD and SANE accretion flows via observations. Finally, we propose two new relations for the temperature ratios of the electrons, ions, and of the gas in terms of the plasma-$\beta$ parameter. The new relations represent a simple and effective approach to treat two-temperature accretion flows on supermassive black holes such as Sgr A* and M\,87*., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication at MNRAS

The formation of jets in black hole accretion systems is a long-standing problem. It has been proposed that a jet can be formed by extracting the rotation energy of the black hole ("BZ-jet") or the accretion flow ("disk-jet"). While both models can produce collimated relativistic outflows, neither has successfully explained the observed jet morphology. In this paper, by employing general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations, and considering nonthermal electrons accelerated by magnetic reconnection driven by kink instability of the jet, we have obtained images by radiative transfer calculations and compared them to millimeter observations of the jet in M87. We find that the BZ-jet originated from a magnetically arrested disk around a high-spin black hole can well reproduce the jet morphology, including its width and limb-brightening feature., Comment: We would like to submit a new article with the same research question as this article. We have made significant modifications in the following two aspects. We have constructed a more refined and accurate theoretical model and greatly improved the resolution of the simulation. Republishing a new version avoids confusion and misleading readers