Silhouette of M87*: A new window to peek into the world of hidden dimensions

TL;DR

This paper explores how the shadow of M87* observed by the Event Horizon Telescope can provide insights into brane world black holes, suggesting a negative tidal charge may indicate deviations from general relativity.

Contribution

It demonstrates the impact of M87* shadow observations on brane world black holes, highlighting the potential for new physics beyond general relativity.

Findings

Negative tidal charge is favored by shadow observables.

Shadow features suggest deviations from standard black hole models.

Supports the existence of extra-dimensional effects in black hole physics.

Abstract

The recent observation of the shadow of the supermassive black hole M87*, located at the centre of the M87 galaxy, by the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration has opened up a new window to probe the strong gravity regime. In this letter, we explicitly demonstrate the consequences of this observation on brane world black holes, characterized by existence of a negative tidal charge. Our results based on three observables associated with the shadow, namely, angular diameter, deviation from circularity and axis ratio reveal that the existence of a negative tidal charge is more favoured, possibly marking a deviation from general relativity.