arXiv subjects

Delilah E. A. Gates

Publications and source records attributed to Delilah E. A. Gates.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Photon Ring Astrometry I: A Simple Spin Measurement Technique for High-Resolution Images of M87*

The supermassive black hole M87* is a target for future horizon-scale imaging that will resolve the first lensed (${n}~{=}~{1}$) sub-image of the photon ring. In this work, we identify a concrete observable---the displacement between the centers of the ${n}~{=}~{1}$ photon-ring sub-image and the direct image. Assuming that the observed large-scale jet of M87 is aligned with the black-hole spin axis, we separate the relative position of the photon ring into components parallel and transverse to the projected spin axis. We show that the parallel shift is primarily determined by inclination and emission radius, while the transverse shift is tightly correlated with inclination and spin. We demonstrate these effects both in a simple geometric model (to explain the underlying physics) and in {general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics} simulations with magnetically arrested disks (to provide realistic instantiations). We find that a relative astrometric resolution of ${\lesssim}~{0.1\;μ\rm{as}}$, achievable by the proposed Black Hole Explorer mission, is sufficient to constrain the spin to better than 9\% if the accretion flow is prograde, 25\% if the flow is retrograde, or 24\% if the direction of the flow is undetermined. More generally, this identifies photon-ring astrometry as a promising method to constrain the underlying spacetime geometry without relying on geometric modeling of the observed emission.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Bayesian Evidence for Inspiraling Hotspot Motion in the Galactic Center

During flaring episodes, polarimetric observations of the Galactic Center black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) reveal evolving, loop-like trajectories in the Stokes Q-U plane, the so-called Q-$U loops. Keplerian models of transiently energized orbiting features, hotspots, have been employed to reproduce these polarimetric signatures. In this work, we develop a Bayesian framework to infer the time-dependent kinematics of the hotspot from polarized light curves, using a general prescription for its motion. We model the emitting region's trajectory as a continuous, piecewise sequence of K kinematic segments, each described by radial and azimuthal velocity parameters. We perform analyses with K=1,2,3 and compare these models to millimeter-wavelength ALMA observations of Sgr A* from 2017 April 11 that include two subsequent Q-U loops, extending the observational constraints on the kinematics. We examine the effects of the local magnetic field geometry, spectral index, and kinematic profile of the hotspot's trajectory on the polarized signal. We find statistically significant evidence that the emitting region follows a non-geodesic inspiraling trajectory, and this preference over a strictly Keplerian orbit strengthens sharply when a longer data segment is modeled. The inspiraling non-Keplerian models are preferred to a purely Keplerian model based on both the Bayesian log-evidence comparison and the reduced chi-square statistic. Our results offer new insight into the nature of flaring events in the Galactic Center and the episodically produced hotspots associated with them.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Polarization Signatures of Inspiraling Hotspots around Kerr Black Holes

Polarimetric interferometry is a powerful tool for probing both black hole accretion physics and the background spacetime. Current models aimed at explaining the observed multiwavelength flares in Sgr A* often assume hotspots moving on geodesic, Keplerian orbits. In many scenarios, though, a hotspot may instead follow an inspiraling trajectory, potentially transitioning into a plunge toward the black hole. In this work, we present a general framework to simulate the polarized emission from generic equatorial inspiraling hotspots in Kerr spacetime using a parametric four-velocity profile. This parametrization defines a continuous family of flows, ranging from Cunningham's disk model (fixed radius orbits outside the innermost stable circular orbit and plunging motion within the innermost stable circular orbit) to purely radial motion, thereby extending the standard assumptions. Within this framework, we show that inspiral motion produces a distinctive observational signature: a precessing, unwinding evolution of the polarimetric Stokes Q-U looping pattern, in sharp contrast with the closed Q-U loops associated with stable orbits at a fixed radius. We then explore how the morphology of these signatures depends on black hole spin, observer inclination, and magnetic-field configuration. The presented model can be applied to current and near-future interferometric observations of linear polarization, offering a new avenue to probe the physics of matter spiraling inward and the relativistic velocities of plunging plasma.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Black Holes with Accretion Disks as High-Energy Particle Colliders

In principle, rapidly rotating black holes (BHs) with accretion disks -- either prograde or retrograde -- could naturally act as high-energy particle colliders (HEPCs) because particles falling in from infinity that collide with particles in the disk near the BH horizon can exhibit center-of-mass (CM) energies beyond the capabilities of terrestrial instruments. However, we show that scattering can moderate the CM energy of near-horizon collisions. We find that rapidly rotating BHs with prograde accretion disks are the most viable candidates for astrophysical HEPCs, whereas BHs with retrograde disks are disfavored, when scattering is incorporated.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Near-Horizon Collisions around Near-Extremal Black Holes

Black holes have sometimes been described as astrophysical particle accelerators because finite energy particles can collide near the horizon with divergent center-of-mass (CM) energy. The collisions are classified by the radial motion of the constituent particles at the moment of collision, with each class exhibiting a distinct near-horizon behavior. Divergence in the CM energy is sourced by the difference in the rate at which the collision radius approaches the horizon and the rate at which a particle's angular momentum is tuned to a critical value set by the superradiant bound. To produce a high energy collision around a near-extremal BH, at least one particle must approach criticality slower than the collision radius approaches the horizon. When both particles are ingoing or outgoing, it is additionally required that the particles approach criticality at different rates. Using a novel multi-scaling limit, we calculate the explicit form for the divergent CM energy. The angular momentum of some circular orbiters -- including those at the innermost stable circular orbit radius and innermost bound circular orbit radius -- approach criticality as the BH approaches extremality, indicating near-extremal BHs may be a natural environment for these high-energy collisions.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Morphology of Relativistically Broadened Line Emission from Axisymmetric Equatorial Accretion Disks

Single-frequency emission from an accretion disk around a black hole is broadened into a line profile due to gravitational redshift and the motion of the disk's particles relative to the observer. The ensemble of relativistically broadened emission frequencies from the disk elements forms the spectrum viewed by an observer. Over the past decades, the broadened spectra of accreting systems have been used to constrain the spin of the black hole, the observer's inclination, and the astrophysical model parameters of the system. These inferences are usually made under the assumption that the accretion disk consists of particles orbiting around the black hole on stable circular orbits in the equatorial plane. Under this Standard disk model, in this work, we revisit line profile morphology, i.e., its extent, kinks, and fall-off. We provide a unified analytical explanation for these line profile morphological features, which encode the black hole spin, viewing inclination, and locations of the disk's inner and outer edges. We then show that these features, however, are model-dependent, by parametrically relaxing some of the astrophysical assumptions. In particular, we explore how allowing the disk particles to deviate from stable circular orbits rapidly degenerates the characteristic features of the line profile under the Standard disk model. Our results further demonstrate how sensitive our understanding of black hole and system properties can be to assumptions we make when interpreting these types of measurements.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Signatures of particle collisions near extreme black holes

Finite-energy particles in free fall can collide with diverging center-of-mass energy near rapidly rotating black holes. What are the most salient observational signatures of this remarkable geometric effect? Here we revisit the problem from the standpoint of the near-horizon extreme Kerr geometry, where these collisions naturally take place. It is shown that the ingoing particle kinematics admits a simple, universal form. Given a scattering cross section, determination of emission properties is reduced to evaluation of particular integrals on the sky of a near-horizon orbiting particle. We subsequently apply this scheme to the example of single-photon bremsstrahlung, substantiating past results which indicate that ejected particles are observable, but their energies are bounded by the rest masses of the colliding particles. Our framework is readily applicable for any scattering process.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

A Letter Highlighting Matrix Mapping in Minimal 4D, ${\mathbf {\cal N}}$ = 1 On-Shell Supermultiplet Representations

On the basis of comparing eigenvalues of an operator ${\hat {\mathbf{\cal C}}}{}^{({\cal R})}$, that proved useful in distinguishing how off-shell 4D, $\cal N$ = 1 supermultiplets become off-shell 4D, $\cal N$ = 2 supermultiplets, the double tensor supermultiplet is shown to be radically different for other known multiplets. This suggests difficulties, if not impossibilities, to embed it into an off-shell structure.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Photon Emission from Circular Equatorial Kerr Orbiters

We consider monochromatic and isotropic photon emission from circular equatorial Kerr orbiters. We derive analytic expressions for the photon escape probability and the redshift-dependent total flux collected on the celestial sphere as a function of emission radius and black hole parameters. These calculations crucially involve the critical curve delineating the region of photon escape from that of photon capture in each emitter's sky. This curve generalizes to finite orbital radius the usual Kerr critical curve and displays interesting features in the limit of high spin, which we investigate by developing a perturbative expansion about extremality. Although the innermost stable circular orbit appears to approach the event horizon for very rapidly spinning black holes, we find in this regime that the photon escape probability tends to $5/12+1/(\sqrt{5}π)\arctan\sqrt{5/3}\approx54.65\%$. We also obtain a simple formula for the flux distribution received on the celestial sphere, which is nonzero. This confirms that the near-horizon geometry of a high-spin black hole is in principle observable. These results require us to introduce a novel type of near-horizon double-scaling limit. We explain the dip observed in the total flux at infinity as an imprint of the black hole: the black hole "bite".

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Maximum Observable Blueshift from Circular Equatorial Kerr Orbiters

The region of spacetime near the event horizon of a black hole can be viewed as a deep potential well at large gravitational redshift relative to distant observers. However, matter orbiting in this region travels at relativistic speeds and can impart a significant Doppler shift to its electromagnetic emission, sometimes resulting in a net observed blueshift at infinity. Thus, a black hole broadens the line emission from monochromatic sources in its vicinity into a smoothly decaying "red wing"--whose flux vanishes at large redshift--together with a "blue blade" that retains finite flux up to a sharp edge corresponding to the maximum observable blueshift. In this paper, we study the blue blade produced by isotropic monochromatic emitters on circular equatorial orbits around a Kerr black hole, and obtain simple relations describing how the maximum blueshift encodes black hole spin and inclination. We find that small values of the maximum blueshift yield an excellent probe of inclination, while larger values provide strong constraints on spin or inclination in terms of the other. These results bear direct relevance to ongoing and future observations aiming to infer the angular momentum of supermassive black holes from the broadening of their surrounding line emission.

gr-qc↗