Strong gravitational lens image of the M87 black hole with a simple accreting matter model

ABSTRACT We study simulated images generated from an accretion disc surrounding the supermassive black hole hosted in the nearby galaxy M87. We approach the problem employing very simple accreting models inspired from magnetohydrodynamical simulations and introducing a new recipe for dealing with the combined integration of the geodesic and geodesic deviation equations in Kerr space–time, which allows for a convenient and efficient way to manage the system of equations. The geometry of the basic emission model is given by a two-temperature thin disc in the equatorial plane of the black hole supplemented by an asymmetric bar structure. We show that this configuration permits to generate the most salient features appearing in the EHT Collaboration images of M87 with impressive fidelity.