Resolving Black Holes: Black Hole Astrophysics in the Era of the Event Horizon Telescope

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Black holes are gravity run amok, purely gravitational objects characterized by their event horizon -- the point of no return from which infalling travelers never return. They also lie at the nexus of modern physics and astronomy: They are central to modern efforts to merge gravity with quantum mechanics, are key sources for the burgeoning field of gravitational wave astronomy, the engines that power the brightest events in the universe, and responsible for driving powerful outflows that shape the night sky. Thus, black holes are a direct window onto the nature of gravity and its inordinate impact in astronomy.******In April, 2017, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), an Earth-sized collection of radio telescopes, conducted the first observation that will directly image a black hole horizon, presenting a historic opportunity to study them. Over the next decade, the EHT promises to reveal in exquisite detail the nature of gravity near horizons, how black holes grow by accreting surrounding material, and how they launch the outflows that magnify their impact. However, this requires investment in efforts to extract this information from the unprecedented images that will soon arrive.******We will continue to lead the development of the theoretical models and analysis infrastructure necessary to scientifically interpret EHT data, within the broad context of the primary EHT targets. Already, we have begun the construction and verification of powerful analysis tools, capable of running on the largest supercomputers in the world. We will extend these by implementing strategies to mitigate known systematic errors, enabling the EHT to maximum its sensitivity. We will also explore a number of improvements to the existing set of models used to interpret EHT data thus far, including increasingly detailed descriptions of the physical processes at work near black holes. Ultimately, these analyses will be used to generate transformative scientific returns from the EHT observations.