Andrew is a NASA Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP) Einstein Fellow at the Princeton University Center for Theoretical Science. He is a member of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration.
Title and Abstract for Andrew’s talk:
The
Black
Hole-Jet
Connection
in
M87:
Linking
Simulations
to
VLBI
images
The
Event
Horizon
Telescope
(EHT)
has
produced
the
first
image
of
the
1.3
mm-wavelength
emission
around
the
black
hole
“shadow”
at
the
heart
of
M87.
Because
the
EHT's
dynamic
range
is
currently
limited,
this
image
does
not
show
emission
from
the
famous
relativistic
jet
which
is
prominent
in
VLBI
images
at
longer
wavelengths.
I
will
discuss
how
large-scale
numerical
simulations
connect
VLBI
images
of
the
shadow
at
1.3
mm
to
images
of
the
jet
at
longer
wavelengths
and
constrain
the
physics
of
the
jet
launching
region.
M87's
wide
jet
opening
angle
and
large
jet
power
suggest
that
its
accretion
flow
is
magnetically
arrested
and
that
the
jet
is
powered
by
the
black
hole
spin.
The
balance
of
radiative
cooling
and
dissipative
heating
in
the
plasma
flow
is
critical
in
setting
the
temperature
of
the
emitting
electrons
and
affects
image
morphology
at
all
wavelengths.
By
including
radiative
feedback
and
electron-ion
thermodynamics
self-consistently
in
simulations
of
magnetically
arrested
disks,
we
are
able
to
produce
images
of
M87
that
are
consistent
with
VLBI
observations
from
EHT
1
mm
images
of
the
black
hole
shadow
to
1
cm
images
of
the
jet.
Finally,
I
will
briefly
discuss
new
algorithms
for
reconstructing
images
from
VLBI
data
developed
for
the
EHT
and
describe
how
these
methods
will
contribute
to
future
EHT
results
that
map
the
near-horizon
emission
in
polarization
and
monitor
its
variability.
In
the
longer
term,
adding
additional
short
baselines
to
the
EHT
network
will
provide
the
dynamic
range
necessary
to
image
the
faint
emission
from
the
jet
base
at
1.3
mm
and
directly
observe
the
connection
between
a
supermassive
black
hole
and
its
relativistic
jet.