ABSTRACT
Imaging interferometric data in radio astronomy requires the use of non-linear algorithms that rely on different assumptions on the source structure and may produce non-unique results. This ...is especially true for very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations, where the sampling of Fourier space is very sparse. A basic tenet in standard VLBI imaging techniques is to assume that the observed source structure does not evolve during the observation. However, the recent VLBI results of the supermassive black hole at our Galactic Centre (Sagittarius A*), recently reported by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, require the development of dynamic imaging algorithms, since it exhibits variability at minute time-scales. In this paper, we introduce a new non-convex optimization problem that extends the standard maximum entropy method (MEM), for reconstructing intra-observation dynamical images from interferometric data that evolve in every integration time. We present a rigorous mathematical formalism to solve the problem via the primal–dual approach. We build a Newton strategy and we give its numerical complexity. We also give a strategy to iteratively improve the obtained solution and, finally, we define a novel figure of merit to evaluate the quality of the recovered solution. Then, we test the algorithm, called the new-generation MEM (ngMEM), in different synthetic data sets, with increasing difficulty. Finally, we compare it with another well-established dynamical imaging method. Within this comparison, we have identified a significant improvement of the ngMEM reconstructions. Moreover, the evaluation of the integration time evolution scheme and the time contribution showed that this method can play a crucial role in obtaining good dynamic reconstructions.
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) host some of the most energetic phenomena in the universe. AGN are thought to be powered by accretion of matter onto a rotating disk that surrounds a supermassive black ...hole. Jet streams can be boosted in energy near the event horizon of the black hole and then flow outward along the rotation axis of the disk. The mechanism that forms such a jet and guides it over scales from a few light-days up to millions of light-years remains uncertain, but magnetic fields are thought to play a critical role. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), we have detected a polarization signal (Faraday rotation) related to the strong magnetic field at the jet base of a distant AGN, PKS 1830–211. The amount of Faraday rotation (rotation measure) is proportional to the integral of the magnetic field strength along the line of sight times the density of electrons. The high rotation measures derived suggest magnetic fields of at least tens of Gauss (and possibly considerably higher) on scales of the order of light-days (0.01 parsec) from the black hole.
Context. In very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), signals recorded at multiple antennas are combined to form a sparsely sampled virtual aperture with an effective diameter set by the largest ...separation between the antennas. Due to the sparsity of the sampled aperture, VLBI imaging constitutes an ill-posed inverse problem. Various algorithms have been employed to deal with the VLBI imaging, including the recently proposed multiobjective evolutionary algorithm by decomposition (MOEA/D) described in the first paper of this series. Aims. Among the approaches to the reconstruction of the image features in total intensity from sparsely sampled visibilities, extensions to the polarimetric and the temporal domain are of great interest for the VLBI community in general and the Event Horizon Telescope Collabroration (EHTC) in particular. Based on the success of MOEA/D in presenting an alternative claim of the image structure in a unique, fast, and largely unsupervised way, we study the extension of MOEA/D to polarimetric and time dynamic reconstructions in this paper. Methods. To this end, we utilized the multiobjective, evolutionary framework introduced for MOEA/D, but added the various penalty terms specific to total intensity imaging time-variable and polarimetric variants, respectively. We computed the Pareto front (the sample of all non-dominated solutions) and identified clusters of close proximities. Results. We tested MOEA/D with synthetic data sets that are representative for the main science targets and instrumental configuration of the EHTC and its possible successors. We successfully recovered the polarimetric and time-dynamic signature of the ground truth movie (even with relative sparsity) and a set of realistic data corruptions. Conclusions. MOEA/D has been successfully extended to polarimetric and time-dynamic reconstructions and, specifically, in a setting that would be expected for the EHTC. It offers a unique alternative and independent claim to the already existing methods, along with a number of additional benefits, namely: it is the first method that effectively explores the problem globally and compared to regularized maximum likelihood (RML) methods. Thus, it waives the need for parameter surveys. Hence, MOEA/D is a novel, useful tool to characterize the polarimetric and dynamic signatures in a VLBI data set robustly with a minimal set of user-based choices. In a consecutive work, we will address the last remaining limitation for MOEA/D (the number of pixels and numerical performance), so that MOEA/D can firmly solidify its place within the VLBI data reduction pipeline.
Abstract
Studying a centi-parsec supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) would allow us to explore a new parameter space in active galactic nuclei, and these objects are also potential sources of ...gravitational waves. We report evidence that an SMBHB with an orbital period of ∼30 yr may be resident in the nearby galactic nucleus M81. This orbital period and the known mass of M81 imply an orbital separation of ∼0.02 pc. The jet emanating from the primary black hole showed a short period of jet wobbling at ∼16.7 yr, superposing a long-term precession at a timescale of several hundred years. Periodic radio and X-ray outbursts were also found two times per orbital period, which could be explained by a double-peaked mass accretion rate variation per binary orbit. If confirmed, M81 would be one of the closest SMBHB candidates, providing a rare opportunity to study the
final parsec problem
.
Abstract
We report millimeter-VLBI results of low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (M84 and M87) up to 88 GHz with source-frequency phase-referencing observations. We detected the weak VLBI core and ...obtained the first image of M84 at 88 GHz. The derived brightness temperature of the M84 core was about 7.2 × 10
9
K, which could serve as a lower limit because the core down to 30 Schwarzschild radii was still unresolved in our 88 GHz observations. We successfully determined the core shifts of M87 at 22–44 GHz and 44–88 GHz through the source-frequency phase-referencing technique. The jet apex of M87 could be deduced at ∼46
μ
as upstream of the 43 GHz core from core-shift measurements. The estimated magnetic field strength of the 88 GHz core of M87 is 4.8 ± 2.4 G, which is at the same magnitude of 1–30 G near the event horizon probed by the Event Horizon Telescope.
Abstract
The collimation of relativistic jets launched from the vicinity of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the centers of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is one of the key questions to understand ...the nature of AGN jets. However, little is known about the detailed jet structure for AGN like quasars since very high angular resolutions are required to resolve these objects. We present very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of the archetypical quasar 3C 273 at 86 GHz, performed with the Global Millimeter VLBI Array, for the first time including the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Our observations achieve a high angular resolution down to ∼60
μ
as, resolving the innermost part of the jet ever on scales of ∼10
5
Schwarzschild radii. Our observations, including close-in-time High Sensitivity Array observations of 3C 273 at 15, 22, and 43 GHz, suggest that the inner jet collimates parabolically, while the outer jet expands conically, similar to jets from other nearby low-luminosity AGNs. We discovered the jet collimation break around 10
7
Schwarzschild radii, providing the first compelling evidence for structural transition in a quasar jet. The location of the collimation break for 3C 273 is farther downstream from the sphere of gravitational influence (SGI) from the central SMBH. With the results for other AGN jets, our results show that the end of the collimation zone in AGN jets is governed not only by the SGI of the SMBH but also by the more diverse properties of the central nuclei.
We report results from very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations of the supermassive black hole in the Galactic center, Sgr A*, at 1.3 mm (230 GHz). The observations were performed in ...2013 March using six VLBI stations in Hawaii, California, Arizona, and Chile. Compared to earlier observations, the addition of the APEX telescope in Chile almost doubles the longest baseline length in the array, provides additional uv coverage in the N-S direction, and leads to a spatial resolution of ∼30 as (∼3 Schwarzschild radii) for Sgr A*. The source is detected even at the longest baselines with visibility amplitudes of ∼4%-13% of the total flux density. We argue that such flux densities cannot result from interstellar refractive scattering alone, but indicate the presence of compact intrinsic source structure on scales of ∼3 Schwarzschild radii. The measured nonzero closure phases rule out point-symmetric emission. We discuss our results in the context of simple geometric models that capture the basic characteristics and brightness distributions of disk- and jet-dominated models and show that both can reproduce the observed data. Common to these models are the brightness asymmetry, the orientation, and characteristic sizes, which are comparable to the expected size of the black hole shadow. Future 1.3 mm VLBI observations with an expanded array and better sensitivity will allow more detailed imaging of the horizon-scale structure and bear the potential for a deep insight into the physical processes at the black hole boundary.
Aims. Our aim is to characterize the polarized continuum emission properties including intensity, polarization position angle, and polarization percentage of Sgr A* at ~100 (3.0 mm), ~230 (1.3 mm), ...~345 (0.87 mm), ~500 (0.6 mm), and ~700 GHz (0.43 mm). Methods. We report continuum emission properties of Sgr A* at the above frequency bands, based on the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) observations. We measured flux densities of Sgr A* from ALMA single pointing and mosaic observations. We performed sinusoidal fittings to the observed (XX-YY)/I intensity ratios, to derive the polarization position angles and polarization percentages. Results. We successfully detect polarized continuum emission from all observed frequency bands. We observed lower Stokes I intensity at ~700 GHz than that at ~500 GHz, which suggests that emission at ≳500 GHz is from the optically thin part of a synchrotron emission spectrum. Both the Stokes I intensity and the polarization position angle at our highest observing frequency of ~700 GHz, may vary with time. However, as yet we do not detect variation in the polarization percentage at >500 GHz. The polarization percentage at ~700 GHz is likely lower than that at ~500 GHz. By comparing the ~500 GHz and ~700 GHz observations with the observations at lower frequency bands, we suggest that the intrinsic polarization position angle of Sgr A* varies with time. This paper also reports the measurable polarization properties from the observed calibration quasars. Conclusions. Future simultaneous multi-frequency polarization observations are required to clarify the time and frequency variation of the polarization position angle and polarization percentage.
Abstract
Through very long baseline interferometry observations of one of the closest low-luminosity active galactic nuclei, M81*, at multiple frequencies of 8.8, 22, and 44 GHz, a bright discrete ...knot with an unusual low apparent speed ∼0.1
c
was detected. Combined with the contemporaneous monitoring of X-ray data at 2–10 keV, our data indicate that a moderate X-ray flare happened when the knot was launched from the core region. Three possible origins of the knot are proposed to explain our observational results. They are an episodic jet ejection, a low-speed shock wave, and a possible secondary black hole in a binary system. Future intensive multiwavelength monitoring can help to understand the discrete knot as well as the central black hole better.
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