Parameter Inference of Black Hole Images using Deep Learning in Visibility Space

Abstract

Using very long baseline interferometry, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration has resolved the shadows of two supermassive black holes. Model comparison is traditionally performed in image space, where imaging algorithms introduce uncertainties in the recovered structure. Here, we develop a deep learning framework to perform parameter inference in visibility space, directly using the data measured by the interferometer without introducing potential errors and biases from image reconstruction. First, we train and validate our framework on synthetic data derived from general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) simulations that vary in magnetic field state, spin, and $R_\mathrm{high}$. Applying these models to the real data obtained during the 2017 EHT campaign, and only considering total intensity, we do not derive meaningful constraints on either of these parameters. At present, our method is limited both by theoretical uncertainties in the GRMHD simulations and variation between snapshots of the same underlying physical model. However, we demonstrate that spin and $R_\mathrm{high}$ could be recovered using this framework through continuous monitoring of our sources, which mitigates variations due to turbulence. In future work, we anticipate that including spectral or polarimetric information will greatly improve the performance of this framework.