A `Leave No Trace' Approach to Initial Conditions in GRMHD Simulations of Accretion

Using observations of black hole systems to test theories of the gravitational force, such as General Relativity (GR), requires an accurate understanding of the turbulent hydrodynamic, radiative, and kinetic processes taking place in the surrounding accretion disk. Material falling into black holes can form organized large-scale structures, dissipate tremendous amounts of energy, and have been linked to the production or accumulation of large-scale magnetic fields. While Gamma Ray Bursts and Tidal Disruption Events may provide supporting empirical evidence that large-scale magnetic dynamos are an intrinsic feature of at least some disks, the exploration of these processes using numerical simulations is particularly sensitive to initial conditions and multi-scale evolution. We present recent progress using a novel approach to initial disk conditions and evolution that is designed to improve the realism of global structure and physicality of the equilibrium disk state reached in 3D-GRMHD simulations. These simulations form the basis of a library that will be used for interpretation of observations, and tests of GR and dynamos with greater fidelity. We will also describe an application of these simulations to understanding systematic error in interpretation of black hole images.