Slow-Light Effect in the Jet-Launching Region of M87
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866914177196490752 |
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| author | Tsunetoe, Yuh Pesce, Dominic W. Narayan, Ramesh |
| author_facet | Tsunetoe, Yuh Pesce, Dominic W. Narayan, Ramesh |
| contents | We explore the impact of "slow-light" radiative transfer - i.e., general relativistic radiative transfer (GRRT) calculations in which the simulated fluid evolves while light rays are propagating through it - in general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) models of the M87 jet. Because the plasma in the jet-launching region is accelerated to relativistic velocities, and because the jet in M87 is nearly aligned with the line of sight (offset by ~17 degrees), a slow-light treatment is important for accurately modeling the observable structure. While fast-light images exhibit prominent helical or loop-shaped features in the jet - which we associate with narrow bundles of magnetic field lines - these features become stretched and smoothed-out in slow-light images. Our slow-light images instead exhibit a double-edged, cone-like morphology that is more consistent with observations of M87 than corresponding fast-light images. We find that the radius at which the plasma transitions from sub-relativistic to relativistic velocities is imprinted on slow-light images via a transition from loop-dominated at small distances from the black hole to edge-dominated at a larger distance, with the loop-edge transition occurring at larger distances for lower black hole spins. The jet image dynamics also vary with black hole spin, with low-spin models producing jets that exhibit substantial "wobbling", while high-spin models produce jets that are straighter and more stable in time. The spin-dependent jet morphology and variability are revealed by slow-light imaging because slow-light effects become more enhanced as the plasma velocity becomes more relativistic, and because the plasma acceleration is itself a strong function of the spin. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_02113 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Slow-Light Effect in the Jet-Launching Region of M87 Tsunetoe, Yuh Pesce, Dominic W. Narayan, Ramesh High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Astrophysics of Galaxies We explore the impact of "slow-light" radiative transfer - i.e., general relativistic radiative transfer (GRRT) calculations in which the simulated fluid evolves while light rays are propagating through it - in general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) models of the M87 jet. Because the plasma in the jet-launching region is accelerated to relativistic velocities, and because the jet in M87 is nearly aligned with the line of sight (offset by ~17 degrees), a slow-light treatment is important for accurately modeling the observable structure. While fast-light images exhibit prominent helical or loop-shaped features in the jet - which we associate with narrow bundles of magnetic field lines - these features become stretched and smoothed-out in slow-light images. Our slow-light images instead exhibit a double-edged, cone-like morphology that is more consistent with observations of M87 than corresponding fast-light images. We find that the radius at which the plasma transitions from sub-relativistic to relativistic velocities is imprinted on slow-light images via a transition from loop-dominated at small distances from the black hole to edge-dominated at a larger distance, with the loop-edge transition occurring at larger distances for lower black hole spins. The jet image dynamics also vary with black hole spin, with low-spin models producing jets that exhibit substantial "wobbling", while high-spin models produce jets that are straighter and more stable in time. The spin-dependent jet morphology and variability are revealed by slow-light imaging because slow-light effects become more enhanced as the plasma velocity becomes more relativistic, and because the plasma acceleration is itself a strong function of the spin. |
| title | Slow-Light Effect in the Jet-Launching Region of M87 |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.02113 |