The jet in M87: confronting theory with observations.

(NOTE: Seminar is on Zoom only)

The formation of jets in black hole accretion systems is a long-standing problem. It has been proposed that a jet can be formed by extracting the rotation energy of the black hole (e.g., the BZ model) or the accretion flow (e.g., the BP model). Some important questions have not been answered: among these dynamical models, which one is correct? Whether these purely dynamical model can explain the observations of jet including the jet morphology? To answer these questions, we have performed general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of black hole accretion. Based on the simulation data, we have calculated electrons acceleration by magnetic reconnection in the jet. The predicted image of the jet is obtained by radiative transfer calculations and the results are compared to the morphology observations of the jet in M87. We find that the BZ-jet originating from a magnetically arrested disk around a highly spinning black hole can well reproduce the jet morphology, including its width and limb-brightening feature, while BP model does not work. The mechanism of magnetic reconnection in the jet is analyzed and found to be magnetic eruption in the accretion flow.