Relativistic Signatures of Flux Eruption Events Near Black Holes

TL;DR

This paper explores how intrinsic variability near supermassive black holes affects the brightness of the photon ring, revealing potential observational signatures of flux eruptions through simulations and models.

Contribution

It introduces the concept that variability can cause observable changes in photon ring brightness, linking flux eruptions to measurable signatures near black holes.

Findings

Brightness of photon ring can vary by an order of magnitude.

Characteristic 'loop' feature in brightness vs. flux density observed.

Magnetic flux eruptions influence photon ring appearance.

Abstract

Images of supermassive black holes produced using very long baseline interferometry provide a pathway to directly observing effects of a highly curved spacetime, such as a bright ``photon ring'' that arises from strongly lensed emission. In addition, the emission near supermassive black holes is highly variable, with bright high-energy flares regularly observed. We demonstrate that intrinsic variability can introduce prominent associated changes in the relative brightness of the photon ring. We analyze both semianalytic toy models and GRMHD simulations with magnetic flux eruption events, showing that they each exhibit a characteristic ``loop'' in the space of relative photon ring brightness versus total flux density. For black holes viewed at high inclination, the relative photon ring brightness can change by an order of magnitude, even with variations in total flux density that are comparatively mild. We show that gravitational lensing, Doppler boosting, and magnetic field structure all significantly affect this feature, and we discuss the prospects for observing it in observations of M87* and Sgr A* with the next-generation Event Horizon Telescope.