MLody—Deep Learning–generated Polarized Synchrotron Coefficients

Polarized synchrotron emission is a fundamental process in high-energy astrophysics, particularly in the environments around black holes and pulsars. Accurate modeling of this emission requires precise computation of the emission, absorption, rotation, and conversion coefficients, which are critical...

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Main Author: J. Davelaar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2024-01-01
Series:The Astrophysical Journal Letters
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad9c79
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author J. Davelaar
author_facet J. Davelaar
author_sort J. Davelaar
collection DOAJ
description Polarized synchrotron emission is a fundamental process in high-energy astrophysics, particularly in the environments around black holes and pulsars. Accurate modeling of this emission requires precise computation of the emission, absorption, rotation, and conversion coefficients, which are critical for radiative transfer simulations. Traditionally, these coefficients are derived using fit functions based on precomputed ground truth values. However, these fit functions often lack accuracy, particularly in specific plasma conditions not well represented in the data sets used to generate them. In this work, we introduce MLody , a deep neural network designed to compute polarized synchrotron coefficients with high accuracy across a wide range of plasma parameters. We demonstrate MLody 's capabilities by integrating it with a radiative transfer code to generate synthetic polarized synchrotron images for an accreting black hole simulation. Our results reveal significant differences, up to a factor of 2, in both linear and circular polarization compared to traditional methods. These differences could have important implications for parameter estimation in Event Horizon Telescope observations, suggesting that MLody could enhance the accuracy of future astrophysical analyses.
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spelling doaj-art-aafa933b4a854c0d8d0886a3e551e7122024-12-27T12:25:44ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052024-01-019781L1010.3847/2041-8213/ad9c79MLody—Deep Learning–generated Polarized Synchrotron CoefficientsJ. Davelaar0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2685-2434Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University , Princeton, NJ 08544, USA ; jdavelaar@princeton.edu; NASA Hubble Fellowship Program, Einstein Fellow; Center for Computational Astrophysics , Flatiron Institute, 162 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA; Department of Astronomy and Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University , 550 W 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USAPolarized synchrotron emission is a fundamental process in high-energy astrophysics, particularly in the environments around black holes and pulsars. Accurate modeling of this emission requires precise computation of the emission, absorption, rotation, and conversion coefficients, which are critical for radiative transfer simulations. Traditionally, these coefficients are derived using fit functions based on precomputed ground truth values. However, these fit functions often lack accuracy, particularly in specific plasma conditions not well represented in the data sets used to generate them. In this work, we introduce MLody , a deep neural network designed to compute polarized synchrotron coefficients with high accuracy across a wide range of plasma parameters. We demonstrate MLody 's capabilities by integrating it with a radiative transfer code to generate synthetic polarized synchrotron images for an accreting black hole simulation. Our results reveal significant differences, up to a factor of 2, in both linear and circular polarization compared to traditional methods. These differences could have important implications for parameter estimation in Event Horizon Telescope observations, suggesting that MLody could enhance the accuracy of future astrophysical analyses.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad9c79Astrophysical black holesComputational astronomyAstronomy softwareAccretion
spellingShingle J. Davelaar
MLody—Deep Learning–generated Polarized Synchrotron Coefficients
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Astrophysical black holes
Computational astronomy
Astronomy software
Accretion
title MLody—Deep Learning–generated Polarized Synchrotron Coefficients
title_full MLody—Deep Learning–generated Polarized Synchrotron Coefficients
title_fullStr MLody—Deep Learning–generated Polarized Synchrotron Coefficients
title_full_unstemmed MLody—Deep Learning–generated Polarized Synchrotron Coefficients
title_short MLody—Deep Learning–generated Polarized Synchrotron Coefficients
title_sort mlody deep learning generated polarized synchrotron coefficients
topic Astrophysical black holes
Computational astronomy
Astronomy software
Accretion
url https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad9c79
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