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Main Authors: Li, Guo-Ping, Wu, Meng-Qi, He, Ke-Jian, Jiang, Qing-Quan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.14734
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author Li, Guo-Ping
Wu, Meng-Qi
He, Ke-Jian
Jiang, Qing-Quan
author_facet Li, Guo-Ping
Wu, Meng-Qi
He, Ke-Jian
Jiang, Qing-Quan
contents In this paper, based on the action of a complex scalar field minimally coupled to a gravitational field, we numerically obtain a series of massive boson star solutions in a spherically symmetric background with a quartic-order self-interaction potential. Then, considering a thin accretion flow with a certain four-velocity, we further investigate the observable appearance of the boson star using the ray-tracing method and stereographic projection technique. As a horizonless compact object, the boson star's thin disk images clearly exhibit multiple light rings and a dark central region, with up to five bright rings. As the observer's position changes, the light rings of some boson stars deform into a symmetrical "horseshoe" or "crescent" shape. When the emitted profile varies, the images may display distinct observational signatures of a "Central Emission Region". Meanwhile, it shows that the corresponding polarized images not only reveal the spacetime features of boson stars but also reflect the properties of the accretion disk and its magnetic field structure. By comparing with black hole, we find that both the polarized signatures and thin disk images can effectively provide a possible basis for distinguishing boson stars from black holes. However, within the current resolution limits of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), boson stars may still closely mimic the appearance of black holes, making them challenging to distinguish at this stage.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_14734
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Observational features of massive boson stars with thin disk accretion
Li, Guo-Ping
Wu, Meng-Qi
He, Ke-Jian
Jiang, Qing-Quan
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
In this paper, based on the action of a complex scalar field minimally coupled to a gravitational field, we numerically obtain a series of massive boson star solutions in a spherically symmetric background with a quartic-order self-interaction potential. Then, considering a thin accretion flow with a certain four-velocity, we further investigate the observable appearance of the boson star using the ray-tracing method and stereographic projection technique. As a horizonless compact object, the boson star's thin disk images clearly exhibit multiple light rings and a dark central region, with up to five bright rings. As the observer's position changes, the light rings of some boson stars deform into a symmetrical "horseshoe" or "crescent" shape. When the emitted profile varies, the images may display distinct observational signatures of a "Central Emission Region". Meanwhile, it shows that the corresponding polarized images not only reveal the spacetime features of boson stars but also reflect the properties of the accretion disk and its magnetic field structure. By comparing with black hole, we find that both the polarized signatures and thin disk images can effectively provide a possible basis for distinguishing boson stars from black holes. However, within the current resolution limits of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), boson stars may still closely mimic the appearance of black holes, making them challenging to distinguish at this stage.
title Observational features of massive boson stars with thin disk accretion
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.14734