PRE2023-Towards the first black hole movies to understand black hole accretion and the formation of relativistic jets (PID2022-140888NB-C21)

The black hole images of M87* and SgrA* obtained by the EHT Collaboration demonstrate that it is now possible to directly study supermassive black holes via repeated astronomical observations. While these images are the culmination of decades of scientific and technical developments, they in fact only mark the beginning of the EHT's long-term quest to study gravity in general, and black hole physics in particular. The next goal of the EHT is the production of the first black hole movies, which will bring into focus not only the persistent strong-field gravity features predicted by general relativity, but also the fine details of black hole accretion and relativistic jet launching that shape galaxy evolution over cosmic times. Our group at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía is leading the EHT efforts to obtain the first movie of the black hole at the center of our galaxy, SgrA*. We propose a PhD that leverages the unprecedented observing capabilities of the EHT, together with observations at other wavebands (from nIR to X-rays), and theoretical studies within the EHT Collaboration to understand how it is possible to extract energy from the black hole to launch the powerful relativistic jets seen in active galactic nuclei and X-ray binaries, a half-century-long mystery in black hole physics. The PhD student will be focussed on developing new algorithms for dynamic imaging and modeling of EHT VLBI data, with the aim to obtain the first movies of the black hole in SgrA*.