Multiwavelength Observations of Relativistic Jets from General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations

TL;DR

This paper develops a framework to compare high-energy astrophysics simulations of relativistic jets with multiwavelength observations, focusing on M87 and preparing for upcoming EHT data to understand jet physics.

Contribution

It introduces a method to convert GRMHD simulation outputs into synthetic, polarized images and spectra for direct comparison with observations, integrating microphysical models of particle acceleration.

Findings

Synthetic observations match observed jet features like collimation and polarization.

Models based on equipartition and current density provide different emission predictions.

Framework enables direct comparison between simulations and multiwavelength observational data.

Abstract

This work summarizes a program intended to unify three burgeoning branches of the high-energy astrophysics of relativistic jets: general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of ever-increasing dynamical range, the microphysical theory of particle acceleration under relativistic conditions, and multiwavelength observations resolving ever-decreasing spatiotemporal scales. The process, which involves converting simulation output into time series of images and polarization maps that can be directly compared to observations, is performed by (1) self-consistently prescribing models for emission, absorption, and particle acceleration and (2) performing time-dependent polarized radiative transfer. M87 serves as an exemplary prototype for this investigation due to its prominent and well-studied jet and the imminent prospect of learning much more from Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations this year. Synthetic observations can be directly compared with real observations for observational signatures such as jet instabilities, collimation, relativistic beaming, and polarization. The simplest models described adopt the standard equipartition hypothesis; other models calculate emission by relating it to current density or shear. These models are intended for application to the radio jet instead of the higher frequency emission, the disk and the wind, which will be subjects of future investigations.