Can the EHT M87 results be used to test general relativity?

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

71 Scopus citations

Abstract

No. All theoretical predictions for the observational appearance of an accreting supermassive black hole, as measured interferometrically by a sparse Earth-sized array at current observation frequencies, are sensitive to many untested assumptions about accretion flow and emission physics. There is no way to distinguish a violation of general relativity from the much more likely scenario that the relevant "gastrophysical"assumptions simply do not hold. Tests of general relativity will become possible with longer interferometric baselines (likely requiring a space mission) that reach the resolution where astrophysics-independent predictions of the theory become observable.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number024023
JournalPhysical Review D
Volume103
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 12 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Can the EHT M87 results be used to test general relativity?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this