Jet Archaeology and Forecasting: Image Variability and Magnetic Field Configuration

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Main Authors: Tsunetoe, Yuh, Narayan, Ramesh, Ricarte, Angelo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Tsunetoe, Yuh
Narayan, Ramesh
Ricarte, Angelo
author_facet Tsunetoe, Yuh
Narayan, Ramesh
Ricarte, Angelo
contents We investigate how magnetic field variations around accreting black holes on event horizon scales affect the morphology of magnetically-driven jet on larger scales. By performing radiative transfer calculations on general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations, we find that temporal variation in the magnetic flux on the event horizon and the jet power are imprinted on the variability of jet width up to several hundred gravitational radii. When the magnetic flux around the black hole drops and then rises, the jet initially narrows or becomes truncated, then widens, creating a thin-thick pattern that propagates down the jet. This suggests that extended jet observations can provide a history record of horizon-scale magnetic field dynamics, and conversely, upcoming changes in the jet image can be predicted from direct observation of the magnetized accreting plasma near the black hole. Furthermore, the pattern of jet width variations shows acceleration up to the relativistic regime as it moves away from the black hole, aligning with plasma bulk motion. We also find in time-averaged images that both the bulk plasma motion and magnetic field configuration in the jet-launching region, which are sensitive to black hole spin, shape diverse features through relativistic beaming and aberration. Higher black hole spins result in more poloidal bulk motion and toroidal magnetic fields, leading to more symmetric jet images and linear polarization patterns. These results suggest a new method for testing the magnetically arrested disk model and the Blandford-Znajek process, and for determining the black hole spin through observations bridging horizon and jet-launching scales.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_08116
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Jet Archaeology and Forecasting: Image Variability and Magnetic Field Configuration
Tsunetoe, Yuh
Narayan, Ramesh
Ricarte, Angelo
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We investigate how magnetic field variations around accreting black holes on event horizon scales affect the morphology of magnetically-driven jet on larger scales. By performing radiative transfer calculations on general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations, we find that temporal variation in the magnetic flux on the event horizon and the jet power are imprinted on the variability of jet width up to several hundred gravitational radii. When the magnetic flux around the black hole drops and then rises, the jet initially narrows or becomes truncated, then widens, creating a thin-thick pattern that propagates down the jet. This suggests that extended jet observations can provide a history record of horizon-scale magnetic field dynamics, and conversely, upcoming changes in the jet image can be predicted from direct observation of the magnetized accreting plasma near the black hole. Furthermore, the pattern of jet width variations shows acceleration up to the relativistic regime as it moves away from the black hole, aligning with plasma bulk motion. We also find in time-averaged images that both the bulk plasma motion and magnetic field configuration in the jet-launching region, which are sensitive to black hole spin, shape diverse features through relativistic beaming and aberration. Higher black hole spins result in more poloidal bulk motion and toroidal magnetic fields, leading to more symmetric jet images and linear polarization patterns. These results suggest a new method for testing the magnetically arrested disk model and the Blandford-Znajek process, and for determining the black hole spin through observations bridging horizon and jet-launching scales.
title Jet Archaeology and Forecasting: Image Variability and Magnetic Field Configuration
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.08116