First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. VIII. Magnetic Field Structure near The Event Horizon
Authors:   The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, Akiyama Kazunori , Algaba Juan Carlos , Alberdi Antxon , Alef Walter , Anantua Richard , Asada Keiichi , Azulay Rebecca , Baczko Anne-Kathrin , Ball David , Baloković Mislav , Barrett John , Benson Bradford A. , Bintley Dan , Blackburn Lindy , Blundell Raymond , Boland Wilfred , Bouman Katherine L. , Bower Geoffrey C. , Boyce Hope , Bremer Michael , Brinkerink Christiaan D. , Brissenden Roger , Britzen Silke , Broderick Avery E. , Broguiere Dominique , Bronzwaer Thomas , Byun Do-Young , Carlstrom John E. , Chael Andrew , Chan Chi-kwan , Chatterjee Shami , Chatterjee Koushik , Chen Ming-Tang , Chen 陈 Yongjun 永军 , Chesler Paul M. , Cho Ilje , Christian Pierre , Conway John E. , Cordes James M. , Crawford Thomas M. , Crew Geoffrey B. , Cruz-Osorio Alejandro , Cui Yuzhu , Davelaar Jordy , De Laurentis Mariafelicia , Deane Roger , Dempsey Jessica , Desvignes Gregory , Dexter Jason , Doeleman Sheperd S. , Eatough Ralph P. , Falcke Heino , Farah Joseph , Fish Vincent L. , Fomalont Ed , Ford H. Alyson , Fraga-Encinas Raquel , Friberg Per , Fromm Christian M. , Fuentes Antonio , Galison Peter , Gammie Charles F. , García Roberto , Gelles Zachary , Gentaz Olivier , Georgiev Boris , Goddi Ciriaco , Gold Roman , Gómez José L. , Gómez-Ruiz Arturo I. , Gu 顾 Minfeng 敏峰 , Gurwell Mark , Hada Kazuhiro , Haggard Daryl , Hecht Michael H. , Hesper Ronald , Himwich Elizabeth , Ho 何 Luis C. 子山 , Ho Paul , Honma Mareki , Huang Chih-Wei L. , Huang 黄 Lei 磊 , Hughes David H. , Ikeda Shiro , Inoue Makoto , Issaoun Sara , James David J. , Jannuzi Buell T. , Janssen Michael , Jeter Britton , Jiang 江 Wu 悟 , Jimenez-Rosales Alejandra , Johnson Michael D. , Jorstad Svetlana , Jung Taehyun , Karami Mansour , Karuppusamy Ramesh , Kawashima Tomohisa , Keating Garrett K. , Kettenis Mark , Kim Dong-Jin , Kim Jae-Young , Kim Jongsoo , Kim Junhan , Kino Motoki , Koay Jun Yi , Kofuji Yutaro , Koch Patrick M. , Koyama Shoko , Kramer Michael , Kramer Carsten , Krichbaum Thomas P. , Kuo Cheng-Yu , Lauer Tod R. , Lee Sang-Sung , Levis Aviad , Li 李 Yan-Rong 彦荣 , Li 李 Zhiyuan 志远 , Lindqvist Michael , Lico Rocco , Lindahl Greg , Liu 刘 Jun 俊 , Liu Kuo , Liuzzo Elisabetta , Lo Wen-Ping , Lobanov Andrei P. , Loinard Laurent , Lonsdale Colin , Lu 路 Ru-Sen 如森 , MacDonald Nicholas R. , Mao 毛 Jirong 基荣 , Marchili Nicola , Markoff Sera , Marrone Daniel P. , Marscher Alan P. , Martí-Vidal Iván , Matsushita Satoki , Matthews Lynn D. , Medeiros Lia , Menten Karl M. , Mizuno Izumi , Mizuno Yosuke , Moran James M. , Moriyama Kotaro , Moscibrodzka Monika , Müller Cornelia , Musoke Gibwa , Mejías Alejandro Mus , Michalik Daniel , Nadolski Andrew , Nagai Hiroshi , Nagar Neil M. , Nakamura Masanori , Narayan Ramesh , Narayanan Gopal , Natarajan Iniyan , Nathanail Antonios , Neilsen Joey , Neri Roberto , Ni Chunchong , Noutsos Aristeidis , Nowak Michael A. , Okino Hiroki , Olivares Héctor , Ortiz-León Gisela N. , Oyama Tomoaki , Özel Feryal , Palumbo Daniel C. M. , Park Jongho , Patel Nimesh , Pen Ue-Li , Pesce Dominic W. , Piétu Vincent , Plambeck Richard , PopStefanija Aleksandar , Porth Oliver , Pötzl Felix M. , Prather Ben , Preciado-López Jorge A. , Psaltis Dimitrios , Pu Hung-Yi , Ramakrishnan Venkatessh , Rao Ramprasad , Rawlings Mark G. , Raymond Alexander W. , Rezzolla Luciano , Ricarte Angelo , Ripperda Bart , Roelofs Freek , Rogers Alan , Ros Eduardo , Rose Mel , Roshanineshat Arash , Rottmann Helge , Roy Alan L. , Ruszczyk Chet , Rygl Kazi L. J. , Sánchez Salvador , Sánchez-Arguelles David , Sasada Mahito , Savolainen Tuomas , Schloerb F. Peter , Schuster Karl-Friedrich , Shao Lijing , Shen 沈 Zhiqiang 志强 , Small Des , Sohn Bong Won , SooHoo Jason , Sun 孙 He 赫 , Tazaki Fumie , Tetarenko Alexandra J. , Tiede Paul , Tilanus Remo P. J. , Titus Michael , Toma Kenji , Torne Pablo , Trent Tyler , Traianou Efthalia , Trippe Sascha , Bemmel Ilse van , van Langevelde Huib Jan , van Rossum Daniel R. , Wagner Jan , Ward-Thompson Derek , Wardle John , Weintroub Jonathan , Wex Norbert , Wharton Robert , Wielgus Maciek , Wong George N. , Wu 吴 Qingwen 庆文 , Yoon Doosoo , Young André , Young Ken , Younsi Ziri , Yuan 袁 Feng 峰 , Yuan 袁 Ye-Fei 业飞 , Zensus J. Anton , Zhao Guang-Yao , Zhao Shan-Shan ,   The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration
Published: March 2021

Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations at 230 GHz have now imaged polarized emission around the supermassive black hole in M87 on event-horizon scales. This polarized synchrotron radiation probes the structure of magnetic fields and the plasma properties near the black hole. Here we compare the resolved polarization structure observed by the EHT, along with simultaneous unresolved observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, to expectations from theoretical models. The low fractional linear polarization in the resolved image suggests that the polarization is scrambled on scales smaller than the EHT beam, which we attribute to Faraday rotation internal to the emission region. We estimate the average density n

e
∼ 104–7 cm−3, magnetic field strength B ∼ 1–30 G, and electron temperature T

e
∼ (1–12) × 1010 K of the radiating plasma in a simple one-zone emission model. We show that the net azimuthal linear polarization pattern may result from organized, poloidal magnetic fields in the emission region. In a quantitative comparison with a large library of simulated polarimetric images from general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations, we identify a subset of physical models that can explain critical features of the polarimetric EHT observations while producing a relativistic jet of sufficient power. The consistent GRMHD models are all of magnetically arrested accretion disks, where near-horizon magnetic fields are dynamically important. We use the models to infer a mass accretion rate onto the black hole in M87 of (3–20) × 10−4
M
⊙ yr−1.