A Universal Power-law Prescription for Variability from Synthetic Images of Black Hole Accretion Flows
Authors: Georgiev Boris , Pesce Dominic W. , Broderick Avery E. , Wong George N. , Dhruv Vedant , Wielgus Maciek , Gammie Charles F. , Chan Chi-kwan , Chatterjee Koushik , Emami Razieh , Mizuno Yosuke , Gold Roman , Fromm Christian M. , Ricarte Angelo , Yoon Doosoo , Joshi Abhishek V. , Prather Ben , Cruz-Osorio Alejandro , Johnson Michael D. , Porth Oliver , Olivares Héctor , Younsi Ziri , Rezzolla Luciano , Vos Jesse , Qiu Richard , Nathanail Antonios , Narayan Ramesh , Chael Andrew , Anantua Richard , Moscibrodzka Monika , Akiyama Kazunori , Alberdi Antxon , Alef Walter , Algaba Juan Carlos , Asada Keiichi , Azulay Rebecca , Bach Uwe , Baczko Anne-Kathrin , Ball David , Baloković Mislav , Barrett John , Bauböck Michi , Benson Bradford A. , Bintley Dan , Blackburn Lindy , Blundell Raymond , Bouman Katherine L. , Bower Geoffrey C. , Boyce Hope , Bremer Michael , Brinkerink Christiaan D. , Brissenden Roger , Britzen Silke , Broguiere Dominique , Bronzwaer Thomas , Bustamante Sandra , Byun Do-Young , Carlstrom John E. , Ceccobello Chiara , Chatterjee Shami , Chen Ming-Tang , Chen 陈 Yongjun 永 军 , Cheng Xiaopeng , Cho Ilje , Christian Pierre , Conroy Nicholas S. , Conway John E. , Cordes James M. , Crawford Thomas M. , Crew Geoffrey B. , Cui 崔 Yuzhu 玉 竹 , Davelaar Jordy , Laurentis Mariafelicia De , Deane Roger , Dempsey Jessica , Desvignes Gregory , Dexter Jason , Doeleman Sheperd S. , Dougal Sean , Dzib Sergio A. , Eatough Ralph P. , Falcke Heino , Farah Joseph , Fish Vincent L. , Fomalont Ed , Ford H. Alyson , Fraga-Encinas Raquel , Freeman William T. , Friberg Per , Fuentes Antonio , Galison Peter , García Roberto , Gentaz Olivier , Goddi Ciriaco , Gómez-Ruiz Arturo I. , Gómez José L. , Gu 顾 Minfeng 敏峰 , Gurwell Mark , Hada Kazuhiro , Haggard Daryl , Haworth Kari , Hecht Michael H. , Hesper Ronald , Heumann Dirk , Ho 何 Luis C. 子山 , Ho Paul , Honma Mareki , Huang Chih-Wei L. , Huang 黄 Lei 磊 , Hughes David H. , Ikeda Shiro , Impellizzeri C. M. Violette , Inoue Makoto , Issaoun Sara , James David J. , Jannuzi Buell T. , Janssen Michael , Jeter Britton , Jiang 江 Wu 悟 , Jiménez-Rosales Alejandra , 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 , Kocherlakota Prashant , Kofuji Yutaro , Koch Patrick M. , Koyama Shoko , Kramer Carsten , Kramer Michael , Krichbaum Thomas P. , Kuo Cheng-Yu , Bella Noemi La , Lauer Tod R. , Lee Daeyoung , Lee Sang-Sung , Lehner Luis , Leung Po Kin , Levis Aviad , Li 李 Zhiyuan 志远 , Lico Rocco , Lindahl Greg , Lindqvist Michael , Lisakov Mikhail , Liu 刘 Jun 俊 , Liu Kuo , Liuzzo Elisabetta , Lo Wen-Ping , Lobanov Andrei P. , Loinard Laurent , Lonsdale Colin J. , Lu 路 Ru-Sen 如森 , Mao 毛 Jirong 基荣 , Marchili Nicola , Markoff Sera , Marrone Daniel P. , Marscher Alan P. , Martí-Vidal Iván , Matsushita Satoki , Matthews Lynn D. , Menten Karl M. , Michalik Daniel , Mizuno Izumi , Moran James M. , Moriyama Kotaro , Müller Cornelia , Mus Alejandro , Musoke Gibwa , Myserlis Ioannis , Nadolski Andrew , Nagai Hiroshi , Nagar Neil M. , Nakamura Masanori , Narayanan Gopal , Natarajan Iniyan , Fuentes Santiago Navarro , Neilsen Joey , Neri Roberto , Ni Chunchong , Noutsos Aristeidis , Nowak Michael A. , Oh Junghwan , Okino Hiroki , Ortiz-León Gisela N. , Oyama Tomoaki , Palumbo Daniel C. M. , Paraschos Georgios Filippos , Park Jongho , Parsons Harriet , Patel Nimesh , Pen Ue-Li , Piétu Vincent , Plambeck Richard , PopStefanija Aleksandar , Pötzl Felix M. , Preciado-López Jorge A. , Pu Hung-Yi , Ramakrishnan Venkatessh , Rao Ramprasad , Rawlings Mark G. , Raymond Alexander W. , Ripperda Bart , Roelofs Freek , Rogers Alan , Ros Eduardo , Romero-Cañizales Cristina , Roshanineshat Arash , Rottmann Helge , Roy Alan L. , Ruiz Ignacio , Ruszczyk Chet , Rygl Kazi L. J. , Sánchez Salvador , Sánchez-Argüelles David , Sánchez-Portal Miguel , Sasada Mahito , Satapathy Kaushik , Savolainen Tuomas , Schloerb F. Peter , Schonfeld Jonathan , Schuster Karl-Friedrich , Shao Lijing , Shen 沈 Zhiqiang 志强 , Small Des , Sohn Bong Won , SooHoo Jason , Souccar Kamal , Sun 孙 He 赫 , Tazaki Fumie , Tetarenko Alexandra J. , Tiede Paul , Tilanus Remo P. J. , Titus Michael , Torne Pablo , Traianou Efthalia , Trent Tyler , Trippe Sascha , Turk Matthew , Bemmel Ilse van , van Langevelde Huib Jan , van Rossum Daniel R. , Wagner Jan , Ward-Thompson Derek , Wardle John , Weintroub Jonathan , Wex Norbert , Wharton Robert , Wiik Kaj , Witzel Gunther , Wondrak Michael F. , Wu 吴 Qingwen 庆文 , Yamaguchi Paul , Young André , Young Ken , Yuan 袁 Feng 峰 , Yuan 袁 Ye-Fei 业 飞 , Zensus J. Anton , Zhang Shuo , Zhao Guang-Yao , Zhao 赵 Shan-Shan 杉杉 
Published: May 2022

We present a framework for characterizing the spatiotemporal power spectrum of the variability expected from the horizon-scale emission structure around supermassive black holes, and we apply this framework to a library of general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations and associated general relativistic ray-traced images relevant for Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations of Sgr A*. We find that the variability power spectrum is generically a red-noise process in both the temporal and spatial dimensions, with the peak in power occurring on the longest timescales and largest spatial scales. When both the time-averaged source structure and the spatially integrated light-curve variability are removed, the residual power spectrum exhibits a universal broken power-law behavior. On small spatial frequencies, the residual power spectrum rises as the square of the spatial frequency and is proportional to the variance in the centroid of emission. Beyond some peak in variability power, the residual power spectrum falls as that of the time-averaged source structure, which is similar across simulations; this behavior can be naturally explained if the variability arises from a multiplicative random field that has a steeper high-frequency power-law index than that of the time-averaged source structure. We briefly explore the ability of power spectral variability studies to constrain physical parameters relevant for the GRMHD simulations, which can be scaled to provide predictions for black holes in a range of systems in the optically thin regime. We present specific expectations for the behavior of the M87* and Sgr A* accretion flows as observed by the EHT.