Related papers: Measuring Spin from Relative Photon Ring Sizes
Measurements of black-hole spins from gravitational-wave observations of black-hole binaries with ground-based detectors are expected to be hampered by partial degeneracies in the gravitational-wave phasing: between the two component spins,…
A key challenge in imaging supermassive black holes is disentangling gravitational effects from plasma physics in order to accurately determine spacetime properties, particularly black hole spin. In this Letter, we present a fully covariant…
Recently, the image of a Schwarzschild black hole with an accretion disk has been revisited, and it showed that the "photon ring", defined as highly bent light rays that intersect the disk plane more than twice, is extremely narrow and…
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has provided a new tool for testing the strong-field regime of gravity by imaging the shadows of M87* and Sgr A*. These observations provide the first real opportunity to test whether quantum…
According to the no-hair theorem, all astrophysical black holes are fully described by their masses and spins. This theorem can be tested observationally by measuring (at least) three different multipole moments of the spacetimes of black…
Recently the Event Horizon Telescope observed black holes at event horizon scales for the first time, enabling us to now test the existence of event horizons. Although event horizons have by definition no observable features, one can look…
Fast variability studies of accreting black holes in the Galaxy offer us a unique opportunity to measure the spins of black holes and test the strong-field behavior of general relativity. In this review, I summarize the arguments often used…
Higher-order photon rings can be expected to be detected in a more detailed image of the black hole found in future observations. These rings are lensed images of the luminous matter surrounding the black hole and are formed by photons that…
Gravitational atoms produced from the superradiant extraction of rotational energy of spinning black holes can reach energy densities significantly higher than that of dark matter, turning black holes into powerful potential detectors for…
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a global submillimeter wavelength very long baseline interferometry array, unveiled event-horizon-scale images of the supermassive black hole M87* as an asymmetric bright emission ring with a diameter of $…
Future X-ray instrumentation is expected to allow us to significantly improve the constraints derivedfrom the Fe K lines in AGN, such as the black-hole angular momentum (spin) and the inclination angle of the putative accretion disk. We…
The nearby radio galaxy M87 is a prime target for studying black hole accretion and jet formation^{1,2}. Event Horizon Telescope observations of M87 in 2017, at a wavelength of 1.3 mm, revealed a ring-like structure, which was interpreted…
The interest in the implications that astrophysical observations have for the understanding of the structure of black holes has grown since the first detection of gravitational waves. Many arguments that are put forward in order to…
Motivated by the prospect of measuring a black hole photon ring, in previous work we explored the interferometric signature produced by a bright, narrow curve in the sky. Interferometric observations of such a curve measure its "projected…
In the presence of a black hole, light sources connect to observers along multiple paths. As a result, observed brightness fluctuations must be correlated across different times and positions in black hole images. Photons that execute…
The Event Horizon Telescope is a global very-long baseline interferometer capable of probing potential deviations from the Kerr metric, which is believed to provide the unique description of astrophysical black holes. Here we report an…
The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration (EHTC) has presented first - dynamic-range limited - images of the black hole shadows in M87 and Sgr A*. The next generation Event Horizon Telescope (ngEHT) will provide higher sensitivity and…
In astronomy, the problem of black holes is arguably second in importance only to the problem of cosmology. A current frontier in black hole research is the measurement of spin. During the past three years, the spins of several stellar-mass…
We develop a "dual cone" model for millimeter wavelength emission near a spinning black hole. The model consists of optically thin, luminous cones of emission, centered on the spin axis, which are meant to represent jet walls. The resulting…
We study synchrotron polarization in spatially resolved horizon-scale images, such as those produced by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). In both general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations as well as simplified models of…