Horizon-scale intensity and polarization images of rotating Konoplya-Zhidenko black holes with thick accretion flows
Abstract
We investigate the shadow and polarization images of a Konoplya--Zhidenko rotating non-Kerr black hole surrounded by a geometrically thick and optically thin accretion flow. The accretion flow is described by an analytical ballistic approximation accretion flow model. The numerical results show that the shadow image exhibits two main features, an outer bright ring and an inner dark region. The former corresponds to higher-order images, while the latter is associated with photon capture by the black hole. Increasing the deformation parameter η does not significantly change the overall shape of the higher-order images, but it enlarges their size. Increasing either the spin parameter a or the observer inclination angle θo enhances the asymmetry of the higher-order images and makes the intensity on the left side much larger than that on the right side. This behavior is associated with frame dragging and the relativistic Doppler effect. In the polarization images, the degree of linear polarization is much smaller in the higher-order image region than in other regions, and the polarization vectors extend over the whole image plane. Within the framework used in this work, these results illustrate how the spacetime geometry and near-horizon accretion dynamics jointly influence the intensity and polarization images.
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BibTeX
@misc{chen2026horizonscale,
title = {{Horizon-scale intensity and polarization images of rotating Konoplya-Zhidenko black holes with thick accretion flows}},
author = {Bing-Bing Chen and Chen-Yu Yang and Guo-Ping Li and Xin-Yun Hu},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2607.01017},
eprint = {2607.01017},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.01017},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Horizon-scale intensity and polarization images of rotating Konoplya-Zhidenko black holes with thick accretion flows
AU - Bing-Bing Chen
AU - Chen-Yu Yang
AU - Guo-Ping Li
AU - Xin-Yun Hu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/03
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2607.01017
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.01017
AB - We investigate the shadow and polarization images of a Konoplya--Zhidenko rotating non-Kerr black hole surrounded by a geometrically thick and optically thin accretion flow. The accretion flow is described by an analytical ballistic approximation accretion flow model. The numerical results show that the shadow image exhibits two main features, an outer bright ring and an inner dark region. The former corresponds to higher-order images, while the latter is associated with photon capture by the black hole. Increasing the deformation parameter η does not significantly change the overall shape of the higher-order images, but it enlarges their size. Increasing either the spin parameter a or the observer inclination angle θ_o enhances the asymmetry of the higher-order images and makes the intensity on the left side much larger than that on the right side. This behavior is associated with frame dragging and the relativistic Doppler effect. In the polarization images, the degree of linear polarization is much smaller in the higher-order image region than in other regions, and the polarization vectors extend over the whole image plane. Within the framework used in this work, these results illustrate how the spacetime geometry and near-horizon accretion dynamics jointly influence the intensity and polarization images.
ER -