Photon Ring Autocorrelations

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method to analyze black hole images by studying the two-point correlation function of intensity fluctuations on the photon ring, enabling black hole parameter estimation without resolving the ring's thickness.

Contribution

It analytically computes the correlation function for a Kerr black hole with turbulent accretion, revealing universal peak structures that encode black hole properties.

Findings

Correlation function exhibits universal, self-similar peaks.

Peak locations and heights depend on black hole parameters.

Method could estimate black hole mass and spin via interferometry.

Abstract

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 multiple orbits around the black hole appear near a critical curve in the observer sky, giving rise to the photon ring. In this paper, a novel observable is proposed: the two-point correlation function of intensity fluctuations on the photon ring. This correlation function is analytically computed for a Kerr black hole surrounded by stochastic equatorial emission, with source statistics motivated by simulations of a turbulent accretion flow. It is shown that this two-point function exhibits a universal, self-similar structure consisting of multiple peaks of identical shape: while the profile of each peak encodes statistical properties of fluctuations in the source, the locations and heights of the peaks are determined purely by the black hole parameters. Measuring these peaks would demonstrate the existence of the photon ring without resolving its thickness, and would provide estimates of black hole mass and spin. With regular monitoring over sufficiently long timescales, this measurement could be possible via interferometric imaging with modest improvements to the Event Horizon Telescope.