Speaker
Elizabeth Himwich
Description
Black hole images are dominated by a "photon ring," a ring of light with universal properties that are completely governed by general relativity. This talk will discuss the univesal features of polarimetric images of black holes. In particular, the photon ring exhibits a self-similar pattern of polarization that encodes the black hole spin. The corresponding polarimetric signatures on long interferometric baselines, extending to space, allow for measurements of the black hole spin using a sparse interferometric array.
Primary author
Co-authors
Michael Johnson
(Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian)
Alex Lupsasca
(Princeton University)
Andrew Strominger
(Harvard University)
