Measuring the Black Hole and Accretion Parameters of Sagittarius A* from EHT Observations using a Semi-Analytic Model

TL;DR

This paper develops a Bayesian semi-analytic modeling approach to analyze EHT observations of Sagittarius A*, separating stable gravitational signatures from rapid variability, and constrains key black hole and accretion parameters despite observational challenges.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Bayesian inference method on snapshot data to extract persistent and variable features of Sgr A* from EHT observations, improving parameter estimation.

Findings

Constraints on inclination angle and emission peak position.

Poor constraints on black hole spin and magnetic field parameters.

Successful reproduction of GRMHD simulation parameters using synthetic data.

Abstract

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration produced the first image of the apparent shadow of the central black hole of Sagittarius\,A$^*$ (\sgra). \sgra source structure varies significantly on timescales shorter than the duration of an observation, preventing improved data coverage through Earth rotation aperture synthesis. This rapid variability provides the opportunity to quantify intrinsic variability and separate time-variable emission features from stable signatures of strong gravity and the accretion environment. To infer the properties \sgra and its surrounding accretion flow, we perform Bayesian inference on a series of EHT data segments (``snapshots''). We directly fit parameters of a semi-analytic emission model jointly with complex station gains to snapshot visibilities, then extract estimates of the time-averaged, persistent source structure and temporal variability by stacking snapshots in a Bayesian hierarchical model. This approach successfully reproduces parameters of General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamics simulations using synthetic EHT observations. Even with physically motivated assumptions about the \sgra environment, black hole spin and magnetic field parameters are poorly constrained by 2017 EHT observations. Our inference constrains other parameters, favoring a nearly face-on observer inclination ($\theta_{\rm o} = 9.2\degree \pm 3.6 \degree \pm_{\rm v} 11.6\degree$), an emission peak near the horizon ($R_{\rm peak} = 4.9 \pm 0.1 \pm_{\rm v} 0.5\,GM/c^2$), near-vertical projected spin position angle ($p.a. = 7.3\degree \pm 7.08 \degree \pm_{\rm v} 43.5\degree$ counterclockwise from vertical), and dominant emission $43.4\degree \pm 2.0\degree \pm_{\rm v} 5.9\degree$ above the equatorial plane, where we separate average structure uncertainty ($\pm$) from the impacts of temporal variability and model misspecification ($\pm_{\rm v}$).