The rising amount of polarized observations of relativistic sources requires the correct theory for proper model fitting. The equations for general relativistic (GR) polarized radiative transfer are derived starting from the Boltzmann equation and basic ideas of general relativity. The derivation is aimed at providing a practical guide to reproducing the synchrotron part of radio & sub-mm emission from low luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs), in particular Sgr A*, and jets. The recipe for fast exact calculation of cyclo-synchrotron emissivities, absorptivities, Faraday rotation and conversion coefficients is given for isotropic particle distributions. The multitude of physical effects influencing simulated spectrum is discussed. The application of the prescribed technique is necessary to determine the black hole (BH) spin in LLAGNs, constraining it with all observations of total flux, linear and circular polarization fractions, and electric vector position angle as functions of the observed frequency.
Accreting supermassive black holes are sources of polarized radiation that propagates through highly curved spacetime before reaching the observer. In order to help interpret observations of such polarized emission, accurate and efficient numerical schemes for polarized radiative transfer in curved spacetime are needed. In this manuscript we extend our publicly available radiative transfer code RAPTOR to include polarization. We provide a brief review of different codes and methods for covariant polarized radiative transfer available in the literature and existing codes, and present an efficie…
We discuss the problem of polarized radiative transfer in general relativity. We present a set of equations suitable for solving the problem numerically for the case of an arbitrary space-time metric, and show numerical solutions to example problems. The solutions are computed with a new ray-tracing code, Arcmancer, developed by the authors.
We briefly summarize the method of simulating Sgr A* polarized sub-mm spectra from the accretion flow and fitting the observed spectrum. The dynamical flow model is based on three-dimensional general relativistic magneto hydrodynamic simulations. Fully self-consistent radiative transfer of polarized cyclo-synchrotron emission is performed. We compile a mean sub-mm spectrum of Sgr A* and fit it with the mean simulated spectra. We estimate the ranges of inclination angle theta=42-75deg, mass accretion rate Mdot=(1.4-7.0)*10^{-8}Msun/yr, and electron temperature Te=(3-4)*10^{10}K at 6M. We discus…
We present {\tt radpol} - a numerical scheme for integrating multifrequency polarized radiative transfer equations along rays propagating in a curved spacetime. The scheme includes radiative processes such as synchrotron emission, absorption, Faraday rotation and conversion, and, for the first time, relativistic Compton scatterings including effects of light polarization. The scheme is fully covariant and is applicable to model radio-$γ$-ray emission and its polarization from, e.g., relativistic jets and accretion flows onto black holes and other exotic objects described in alternative metric …
KPolaris: GPU-accelerated Polarized Radiative Transfer in General Relativity
School of Physical Science and Technology, Ningbo University（宁波大学物理科学与技术学院）；BINGO Center, Ningbo University（宁波大学BINGO中心）；Center for High Energy Physics, Peking University（北京大学高能物理中心）
We describe ${\tt ipole}$, a new public ray-tracing code for covariant, polarized radiative transport. The code extends the ${\tt ibothros}$ scheme for covariant, unpolarized transport using two representations of the polarized radiation field: in the coordinate frame, it parallel transports the coherency tensor; in the frame of the plasma it evolves the Stokes parameters under emission, absorption, and Faraday conversion. The transport step is implemented to be as spacetime- and coordinate- independent as possible. The emission, absorption, and Faraday conversion step is implemented using an …
We derive the relativistic kinetic equation for Compton scattering of polarized radiation in strong magnetic field using the Bogolyubov method. The induced scattering and the Pauli exclusion principle are taken into account. The electron polarization is also considered in the general form of the kinetic equation. The special forms of the equation for the cases of the non-polarized electrons, the rarefied electron gas and the two polarization mode description of radiation are found. The derived equations are valid for any photon and electron energies and the magnetic field strength below about …
We use moment formalism of relativistic radiation hydrodynamics to obtain equations of motion of radial jets and solve them using polytropic equation of state of the relativistic gas. We consider curved space-time around black holes and obtain jets with moderately relativistic terminal speeds. In addition, the radiation field from the accretion disc, is able to induce internal shocks in the jet close to the horizon. Under combined effect of thermal as well as radiative driving, terminal speeds up to 0.75 (units of light speed) are obtained.
Context. Relativistic jets are ubiquitous in astrophysics. High Mass Microquasars (HMMQs) are useful labs to study such jets, as they are relatively close and evolve over observable time scales. The ambient medium into which the jet propagates is, however, far from homogeneous. Corresponding simulation studies to date consider various forms of a wind-shaped ambient medium but typically neglect radiative cooling and relativistic effects. Aims. We investigate the dynamical and structural effects of radiative losses and system parameters on relativistic jets in HMMQs, from the jet launch to its p…
We investigate a relativistic fluid jet driven by radiation from a shocked accretion disc around a non-rotating black hole approximated by Paczyński-Wiita potential. The sub-Keplerian and Keplerian accretion rates control the shock location and therefore, the radiation field around the accretion disc. We compute the radiative moments with full special relativistic transformation. The effect of a fraction of radiation absorbed by the black hole has been approximated, over and above the special relativistic transformations. We show that the radiative moments around a super massive black hole are…
Analytical and numerical solutions are obtained for the equation of radiative transfer in ultra-relativistic opaque jets. The solution describes the initial trapping of radiation, its adiabatic cooling, and the transition to transparency. Two opposite regimes are examined: (1) Matter-dominated outflow. Surprisingly, radiation develops enormous anisotropy in the fluid frame before decoupling from the fluid. The radiation is strongly polarized. (2) Radiation-dominated outflow. The transfer occurs as if radiation propagated in vacuum, preserving the angular distribution and the blackbody shape of…
Context: Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are anisotropic objects surrounded by an optically thick equatorial medium whose true geometry still defy observers. Aims: In this paper, we aim to explore the optical, scattering-induced, polarization emerging from clumpy and warped dusty tori to check whether they can fit with the unified model predictions. Methods: We run polarized radiative transfer simulations in a set of warped and non warped clumpy tori to explore the differences induced by distorted dust distributions. We then include warped tori in a more complex model representative of an AGN to …
Relativistic thermal electrons moving in a large-scale magnetic field can produce synchrotron radiation. Linear synchrotron polarization can also be produced by the relativistic thermal electrons. In this paper, we utilize a hybrid thermal-nonthermal electron energy distribution to calculate circular synchrotron polarization. We further compute the radiative transfer of the synchrotron polarization in the optical and radio bands when we consider the contribution of the thermal electrons. We attempt to apply the polarization results to some astrophysical objects, such as kilonova like AT 2017gf…
We present bhlight, a numerical scheme for solving the equations of general relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamics (GRRMHD) using a direct Monte Carlo solution of the frequency-dependent radiative transport equation. bhlight is designed to evolve black hole accretion flows at intermediate accretion rate, in the regime between the classical radiatively efficient disk and the radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF), in which global radiative effects play a sub-dominant but non-negligible role in disk dynamics. We describe the governing equations, numerical method, idiosyncrasies of ou…
A covariant scattering kernel is a core component in any self-consistent general relativistic radiative transfer formulation in scattering media. An explicit closed-form expression for a covariant Compton scattering kernel with a good dynamical energy range has unfortunately not been available thus far. Such an expression is essential to obtain numerical solutions to the general relativistic radiative transfer equations in complicated astrophysical settings where strong scattering effects are coupled with highly relativistic flows and steep gravitational gradients. Moreover, this must be perfo…
To reproduce the observed spectra and light curves originated in the neighborhood of compact objects requires accurate relativistic ray-tracing codes. In this work, we present Skylight, a new numerical code for general-relativistic ray tracing and radiative transfer in arbitrary space-time geometries and coordinate systems. The code is capable of producing images, spectra, and light curves from astrophysical models of compact objects as seen by distant observers. We incorporate two different schemes, namely Monte Carlo radiative transfer, integrating geodesics from the astrophysical region to …
Magnetic fields are believed to drive accretion and relativistic jets in black hole accretion systems, but the magnetic-field structure that controls these phenomena remains uncertain. We perform general relativistic (GR) polarized radiative transfer of time-dependent three-dimensional GR magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) simulations to model thermal synchrotron emission from the Galactic Center source Sagittarius A$^\ast$ (Sgr A*). We compare our results to new polarimetry measurements by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and show how polarization in the visibility (Fourier) domain distinguishes an…
We describe a Monte Carlo radiative transport code intended for calculating spectra of hot, optically thin plasmas in full general relativity. The version we describe here is designed to model hot accretion flows in the Kerr metric and therefore incorporates synchrotron emission and absorption, and Compton scattering. The code can be readily generalized, however, to account for other radiative processes and an arbitrary spacetime. We describe a suite of test problems, and demonstrate the expected $N^{-1/2}$ convergence rate, where $N$ is the number of Monte Carlo samples. Finally we illustrate…
We develop a time-dependent multi-group multidimensional relativistic radiative transfer code, which is required to numerically investigate radiation from relativistic fluids involved in, e.g., gamma-ray bursts and active galactic nuclei. The code is based on the spherical harmonic discrete ordinate method (SHDOM) that evaluates a source function including anisotropic scattering in spherical harmonics and implicitly solves the static radiative transfer equation with a ray tracing in discrete ordinates. We implement treatments of time dependence, multi-frequency bins, Lorentz transformation, an…
