Strong gravitational lens image of the M87 black hole with a simple accreting matter model

TL;DR

This paper presents a simplified accretion disk model for simulating images of the M87 black hole, successfully reproducing key features observed by the EHT with high fidelity.

Contribution

Introduces a simple accretion disk model and a new computational method for simulating black hole images in Kerr spacetime, matching observed features.

Findings

Reproduces key features of M87 images with high fidelity

Develops an efficient method for integrating geodesic equations

Demonstrates the effectiveness of a simple accretion model

Abstract

We study simulated images generated from an accretion disk surrounding the supermassive black hole hosted in the nearby galaxy M87. We approach the problem employing very simple accreting models inspired from magnetohydrodynamical simulations and introducing a new recipe for dealing with the combined integration of the geodesic and geodesic deviation equations in Kerr spacetime, which allows for a convenient and efficient way to manage the system of equations. The geometry of the basic emission model is given by a two temperature thin disk in the equatorial plane of the black hole supplemented by an asymmetric bar structure. We show that this configuration permits to generate the most salient features appearing in the EHT Collaboration images of M87 with impressive fidelity.