We study the influence of parameter $$\alpha $$α on the optical features of Schwarzschild-MOG black holes with different thin accretions in scalar-tensor-vector gravity. As $$\alpha $$α increases from 0, the radii of the event horizon, photon sphere, and observed shadow increase in comparison with the Schwarzschild black hole. We constrain the parameter $$\alpha $$α with the experimental data reported by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration for M87 $$^{*}$$∗ and Sagittarius A $$^{*}$$∗ . In the situation of spherical accretions, we unveil that the parameter $$\alpha $$α has a positive effect on the shadow size but a negative effect on the observed specific intensities. Considering that the Schwarzschild-MOG black hole is surrounded by an optical and geometrically thin accretion disk, we find that the total observed specific intensities are mainly contributed by the direct emissions, while the photon rings and lensed rings provide small contributions. It is also found that with the increase of $$\alpha $$α , the black hole shadow expands, the photon rings and lensed rings become larger and thicker. Besides, we emphasize that the boundary of the observed shadow cast by the aim black hole in the disk accretion scenario is determined by the direct emissions rather than the photon ring emissions. Consequently, we unveil that there is a linear relationship involving the critical impact parameter and the starting point of the direct emissions. This finding helps to use the experimental results of the Event Horizon Telescope to infer the critical impact parameter and to test General Relativity.

This paper deals mainly with the application of the second-order symplectic implicit midpoint rule and its symmetric compositions to a post-Newtonian Hamiltonian formulation with canonical spin variables in relativistic compact binaries. The midpoint rule, as a basic algorithm, is directly used to integrate the completely canonical Hamiltonian system. On the other hand, there are symmetric composite methods based on a splitting of the Hamiltonian into two parts: the Newtonian part associated with a Kepler motion, and a perturbation part involving the orbital post-Newtonian and spin contributions, where the Kepler flow has an analytic solution and the perturbation can be calculated by the midpoint rule. An example is the second-order mixed leapfrog symplectic integrator with one stage integration of the perturbation flow and two semistage computations of the Kepler flow at every integration step. Also, higher-order composite methods such as the Forest-Ruth fourth-order symplectic integrator and its optimized algorithm are applicable. Various numerical tests including simulations of chaotic orbits show that the mixed leapfrog integrator is always superior to the midpoint rule in energy accuracy, while both of them are almost equivalent in computational efficiency. Particularly, the optimized fourth-order algorithm compared with the mixed leapfrog scheme provides good precision and needs no expensive additional computational time. As a result, it is worth performing a more detailed and careful examination of the dynamical structure of chaos and order in the parameter windows and phase space of the binary system.

Symplectic integrators that preserve the geometric structure of Hamiltonian flows and do not exhibit secular growth in energy errors are suitable for the long-term integration of N-body Hamiltonian systems in the solar system. However, the construction of explicit symplectic integrators is frequently difficult in general relativity because all variables are inseparable. Moreover, even if two analytically integrable splitting parts exist in a relativistic Hamiltonian, all analytical solutions are not explicit functions of proper time. Naturally, implicit symplectic integrators, such as the midpoint rule, are applicable to this case. In general, these integrators are numerically more expensive to solve than same-order explicit symplectic algorithms. To address this issue, we split the Hamiltonian of Schwarzschild spacetime geometry into four integrable parts with analytical solutions as explicit functions of proper time. In this manner, second- and fourth-order explicit symplectic integrators can be easily made available. The new algorithms are also useful for modeling the chaotic motion of charged particles around a black hole with an external magnetic field. They demonstrate excellent long-term performance in maintaining bounded Hamiltonian errors and saving computational cost when appropriate proper time steps are adopted.

In a previous paper, second- and fourth-order explicit symplectic integrators were designed for a Hamiltonian of the Schwarzschild black hole. Following this work, we continue to trace the possibility of construction of explicit symplectic integrators for a Hamiltonian of charged particles moving around a Reissner–Nordström black hole with an external magnetic field. Such explicit symplectic methods are still available when the Hamiltonian is separated into five independently integrable parts with analytical solutions as explicit functions of proper time. Numerical tests show that the proposed algorithms share desirable properties in their long-term stability, precision, and efficiency for appropriate choices of step size. For the applicability of one of the new algorithms, the effects of black hole’s charge, the Coulomb part of the electromagnetic potential and the magnetic parameter on the dynamical behavior are surveyed. Under some circumstances, the extent of chaos becomes strong with an increase of the magnetic parameter from a global phase-space structure. No variation of the black hole’s charge other than the Coulomb part affects the regular and chaotic dynamics of the particles’ orbits. A positive Coulomb part more easily induces chaos than a negative one.

In previous papers, explicit symplectic integrators were designed for nonrotating black holes, such as a Schwarzschild black hole. However, they fail to work in the Kerr spacetime because not all variables can be separable, or not all splitting parts have analytical solutions as explicit functions of proper time. To cope with this difficulty, we introduce a time transformation function to the Hamiltonian of Kerr geometry so as to obtain a time-transformed Hamiltonian consisting of five splitting parts, whose analytical solutions are explicit functions of the new coordinate time. The chosen time transformation function can cause time steps to be adaptive, but it is mainly used to implement the desired splitting of the time-transformed Hamiltonian. In this manner, new explicit symplectic algorithms are easily available. Unlike Runge–Kutta integrators, the newly proposed algorithms exhibit good long-term behavior in the conservation of Hamiltonian quantities when appropriate fixed coordinate time steps are considered. They are better than same-order implicit and explicit mixed symplectic algorithms and extended phase-space explicit symplectic-like methods in computational efficiency. The proposed idea on the construction of explicit symplectic integrators is suitable for not only the Kerr metric but also many other relativistic problems, such as a Kerr black hole immersed in a magnetic field, a Kerr–Newman black hole with an external magnetic field, axially symmetric core–shell systems, and five-dimensional black ring metrics.