Emission Modeling in the EHT-ngEHT Age

This work proposes a methodology for testing phenomenologically motivated emission processes that account for the flux and polarization distribution and global structure of the 230 GHz sources imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT): Messier (M)87* and Sagittarius (Sgr) A*. We introduce into general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations some novel models to bridge the largely uncertain mechanisms by which high-energy particles in jet/accretion flow/black hole (JAB) system plasmas attain billion-degree temperatures and emit synchrotron radiation. The Observing JAB Systems methodology then partitions the simulation to apply different parametric models to regions governed by different plasma physics-an advance over methods in which one parametrization is used over simulation regions spanning thousands of gravitational radii from the central supermassive black hole. We present several classes of viewing-angle-dependent morphologies and highlight signatures of piecewise modeling and positron effects, including a MAD/SANE dichotomy in which polarized maps appear dominated by intrinsic polarization in the MAD case and by Faraday effects in the SANE case. The library of images thus produced spans a wide range of morphologies awaiting discovery by the groundbreaking EHT instrument and its yet more sensitive, higher-resolution next-generation counterpart, ngEHT.

Automated summary

This research proposes a methodology to test phenomenologically motivated emission processes in the sources imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope. It introduces novel models into GRMHD simulations to bridge the uncertain mechanisms of high-energy particles in JAB system plasmas. The methodology partitions the simulation and applies different parametric models to regions governed by different plasma physics.