Jet models of Event Horizon Telescope ( EHT ) data should also conform to the observed jet profiles just downstream .
This study evaluates conformance of models of black hole jets to images of the innermost jet of M87 .
This is a basic test that should be passed before using them to perform a physical interpretation of EHT data .
Recent 86 GHz Very Long Baseline Interferometry observations of M87 have revealed the morphology and size of the jet near its source ( < 65 M , or 0.06 lt-yrs after correcting for line of sight to the jet , where M is the black hole mass in geometrized units ) for the first time .
Current transverse resolution indicates that this region is dominated by flux emanating from the edge of the jet .
The observed inner jet profiles are compared to all existing published synthetic radio images constructed from “ state of the art ” 3-D numerical simulations of the black hole accretion system in M87 .
Despite efforts to produce the characteristic wide , edge dominated jet , these models are too narrow ( by a factor of \sim 2 ) in the region 0.06 - 0.32 lt-yrs from the source , even though the jets ( spine and/or sheath ) in the image plane might appear conformant farther downstream .
Furthermore , the synthetic radio images are not edge dominated 0.06 - 0.32 lt-yrs from the source , but spine dominated .
Analyses that implement these models as physical diagnostics of EHT visibility amplitudes are therefore suspect .
Thus , these inner jet characteristics are important considerations before applying simulations to the EHT data .