English

Bright ring features and polarization structures in Kerr-Sen black hole images illuminated by radiatively inefficient accretion flows

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2026-05-22 v4 Astrophysics of Galaxies High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Abstract

Using general relativistic radiative transfer (GRRT) simulations, we investigate the bright ring features and polarization structures in images of the Kerr-Sen black hole associated with Sgr A*, as illuminated by 230 GHz thermal synchrotron emission from radiatively inefficient accretion flows (RIAF). Our findings reveal that an increase in the dilaton parameter leads to a shrinking of the bright ring, accompanied by enhancements in both its width and brightness. As the disk thickness grows, the bright ring's diameter and width both decrease. The brightness enhancement induced by the disk thickness is less prominent than that driven by the dilaton parameter. Comparing with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observational data of SgrA*, we present the allowed ranges of black hole parameters, and find that effects of the disk thickness on the allowed parameter space are stronger than those of the observer's inclination. Furthermore, we analyze the coefficient β2\beta_2, associated with the two-fold rotational symmetry of the electric vector position angles (EVPA), to probe the polarization structure of the black hole images, and reveal that effects of the disk thickness on β2\beta_2 are much weaker than those from the dilaton parameter.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2507.03857,
  title  = {Bright ring features and polarization structures in Kerr-Sen black hole images illuminated by radiatively inefficient accretion flows},
  author = {Hao Yin and Songbai Chen and Jiliang Jing},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.03857},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

18 pages, 10 figures, Accepted by JCAP for publication