From Morphology to Variability: Radiative Cooling Effects on Horizon-Scale Polarization in Two-Temperature GRMHD Simulations

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ID: 317668
2026
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Abstract
Abstract Polarization signatures provide a new window to investigate the effects of radiative cooling in the horizon-scale accretion flows. Morphology and variability of polarization offer quantifiable diagnostics of how cooling modifies the polarised emission from two-temperature GRMHD simulations. We find that cooling enhances the effective Faraday depth, leading to stronger large-scale Faraday scrambling, particularly at higher accretion rates. In contrast, depolarization associated with higher-order photons is comparable between cooling and non-cooling models. Radiative cooling also increases the intrinsic asymmetry in both the ring structure and the polarization pattern. This effect is quantified by enhanced power in non-axisymmetric azimuthal modes (βm, m ≠ 2) relative to the dominant quadrupolar component β2. The increased asymmetry is directly linked to stronger temporal variability of the polarization angle ∠β2, including frequent sign reversals that are absent in non-cooling models. The radial profile of ∠β2 further localizes the physical origin of these effects, distinguishing regions dominated by Faraday rotation from those influenced by photon ring contributions, and providing a clear separation between cooling and non-cooling cases. Additional tests including a non-thermal electron population indicate that the polarization structure at 230 GHz is largely insensitive to the detailed form of the electron distribution functions. Our results demonstrate that horizon-scale polarization asymmetry, variability, and radial structure encode robust signatures of radiative cooling. These findings highlight the diagnostic power of time-resolved polarimetry and high-resolution imaging for constraining radiative processes in black hole accretion flows with EHT-like observations.
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Authors Sinan Long, Akhil Uniyal, Mingyuan Zhang, Yosuke Mizuno, Ziri Younsi, Christian M. Fromm, Kinwah Wu
Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag1149
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