DOE OSTI · 3018453
Ring Asymmetry and Spin in M87*
Abstract
Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) images of the supermassive black hole M87* depict an asymmetric ring of emission. General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) models of M87* and its accretion disk predict that the amplitude and location of the ring’s peak brightness asymmetry should fluctuate due to turbulence in the source plasma. We compare the observed distribution of brightness asymmetry amplitudes to the simulated distribution in GRMHD models, across varying black hole spin a * . We show that, for strongly magnetized (MAD) models, three epochs of EHT data marginally disfavor ∣a * ∣ ≲ 0.2. This is consistent with the Blandford–Znajek model for M87’s jet, which predicts that M87* should have nonzero spin. We show quantitatively how future observations could improve spin constraints and discuss how improved spin constraints could distinguish between differing jet-launching mechanisms and black hole growth scenarios.
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Bernshteyn, Vadim [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States); Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration. et al.] (ORCID:0009000013762352), Conroy, Nicholas S. (ORCID:0000000328862377), Bauböck, Michi (ORCID:0000000255182812), Tiede, Paul (ORCID:0000000338265648), Joshi, Abhishek V. (ORCID:0000000225145965), Prather, Ben S. (ORCID:0000000203937734), Gammie, Charles F. (ORCID:0000000174518935), Akiyama, Kazunori (ORCID:0000000294754254), Albentosa-Ruíz, Ezequiel (ORCID:0000000278166401), Alberdi, Antxon (ORCID:0000000293711033), Alef, Walter, Algaba, Juan Carlos (ORCID:0000000169931696), Anantua, Richard (ORCID:0000000334577660), Asada, Keiichi (ORCID:0000000169888763), Azulay, Rebecca (ORCID:0000000222005393), Baczko, Anne-Kathrin (ORCID:0000000330903975), Ball, David, Bandyopadhyay, Bidisha (ORCID:0000000221388564), Barrett, John (ORCID:0000000292900764), Benson, Bradford A. (ORCID:0000000251086823), Bintley, Dan, Blackburn, Lindy (ORCID:000000029030642X), Blundell, Raymond (ORCID:0000000259295857), Bouman, Katherine L. (ORCID:0000000300774367), Bower, Geoffrey C. (ORCID:0000000340569982), Bremer, Michael (ORCID:0000000175113745), Brissenden, Roger (ORCID:0000000225560894), Britzen, Silke (ORCID:0000000192406734), Broderick, Avery E. (ORCID:000000023351760X), Broguiere, Dominique (ORCID:0000000191516683), Bronzwaer, Thomas (ORCID:0000000311513971), Bustamante, Sandra (ORCID:0000000161691894), Carlos, Douglas F. (ORCID:0000000213407702), Carlstrom, John E. (ORCID:0000000220447665), Chael, Andrew (ORCID:0000000329666220), Chan, Chi-kwan (ORCID:0000000163376126), Chang, Dominic O. (ORCID:0000000199395257), Chatterjee, Koushik (ORCID:0000000228253590), Chen, Ming-Tang (ORCID:0000000165733318), Chen 陈, Yongjun 永军 (ORCID:0000000156506770), Cheng, Xiaopeng (ORCID:0000000344079868), Chichura, Paul (ORCID:0000000253979035), Cho, Ilje (ORCID:0000000160837521), Conway, John E. (ORCID:0000000324489181), Crawford, Thomas M. (ORCID:0000000190005013), Crew, Geoffrey B. (ORCID:0000000220793189), Cruz-Osorio, Alejandro (ORCID:0000000239456342), Cui 崔, Yuzhu 玉竹 (ORCID:0000000163114345), Curd, Brandon (ORCID:0000000286500879), Dahale, Rohan (ORCID:0000000169829034), Davelaar, Jordy (ORCID:0000000226852434), De Laurentis, Mariafelicia (ORCID:000000029945682X), Deane, Roger (ORCID:0000000310275043), Dexter, Jason (ORCID:0000000339030373), Dhruv, Vedant (ORCID:000000016765877X), Dihingia, Indu K. (ORCID:0000000240640446), Doeleman, Sheperd S. (ORCID:0000000290310904), Dzib, Sergio A. (ORCID:0000000160106200), Emami, Razieh (ORCID:0000000227915011), Falcke, Heino (ORCID:0000000225266724), Farah, Joseph (ORCID:0000000349145625), Fish, Vincent L. (ORCID:0000000271289345), Fomalont, Edward (ORCID:0000000290362747), Ford, H. Alyson (ORCID:0000000297970972), Foschi, Marianna (ORCID:0000000181474993), Fraga-Encinas, Raquel (ORCID:0000000252221361), Freeman, William T., Friberg, Per (ORCID:0000000280108454), Fromm, Christian M. (ORCID:0000000218271656), Fuentes, Antonio (ORCID:0000000287734933), Galison, Peter (ORCID:0000000264293872), García, Roberto (ORCID:0000000265847443), Gentaz, Olivier (ORCID:0000000201154605), Georgiev, Boris (ORCID:0000000235866424), Goddi, Ciriaco (ORCID:0000000225427743), Gold, Roman (ORCID:0000000324921966), Gómez-Ruiz, Arturo I. (ORCID:0000000193951670), Gómez, José L. (ORCID:0000000341907613), Gu 顾, Minfeng 敏峰 (ORCID:0000000244556946), Gurwell, Mark (ORCID:0000000306853621), Hada, Kazuhiro (ORCID:000000016906772X), Haggard, Daryl (ORCID:0000000168032138), Hesper, Ronald (ORCID:0000000319186098), Heumann, Dirk (ORCID:0000000276710047), Ho 何, Luis C. 子山 (ORCID:0000000169475846), Ho, Paul (ORCID:0000000234124306), Honma, Mareki (ORCID:0000000340589000), Huang, Chih-Wei L. (ORCID:0000000156413953), Huang 黄, Lei 磊 (ORCID:000000021923227X), Hughes, David H., Ikeda, Shiro (ORCID:0000000224621448), Impellizzeri, C. M. Violette (ORCID:0000000234432472), Inoue, Makoto (ORCID:0000000150373989), Issaoun, Sara (ORCID:000000025297921X), James, David J. (ORCID:0000000151604486), Jannuzi, Buell T. (ORCID:0000000215786582), Janssen, Michael (ORCID:0000000186856544), Jeter, Britton (ORCID:0000000328471712), Jiang 江, Wu 悟 (ORCID:0000000173693539), Jiménez-Rosales, Alejandra (ORCID:0000000226623754). 2026-03-25. Ring Asymmetry and Spin in M87*. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357%2Fae34af
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