During April 7–21 2020, KAGRA conducted its first scientific observation in conjunction with the GEO600 detector. The dominant noise sources during this run were found to be suspension control noise in the low-frequency range and acoustic noise in the mid-frequency range. In this study, we show that their contributions in the observational data can be reduced by a signal processing method called independent component analysis (ICA). The model of ICA is extended from that studied in the initial KAGRA data analysis to account for frequency dependence, while the linearity and stationarity of the coupling between the interferometer and the noise sources are still assumed. We identify optimal witness sensors in the application of ICA, leading to successful mitigation of these two dominant contributions. We also analyze the stability of the transfer functions for the entire two weeks of data to investigate the applicability of the proposed subtraction method in gravitational wave searches.

Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations have revealed a bright ring of emission around the supermassive black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy. EHT images in linear polarization have further identified a coherent spiral pattern around the black hole, produced from ordered magnetic fields threading the emitting plasma. Here we present the first analysis of circular polarization using EHT data, acquired in 2017, which can potentially provide additional insights into the magnetic fields and plasma composition near the black hole. Interferometric closure quantities provide convincing evidence for the presence of circularly polarized emission on event-horizon scales. We produce images of the circular polarization using both traditional and newly developed methods. All methods find a moderate level of resolved circular polarization across the image (〈∣v∣〉 < 3.7%), consistent with the low image-integrated circular polarization fraction measured by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (∣v_int∣ < 1%). Despite this broad agreement, the methods show substantial variation in the morphology of the circularly polarized emission, indicating that our conclusions are strongly dependent on the imaging assumptions because of the limited baseline coverage, uncertain telescope gain calibration, and weakly polarized signal. We include this upper limit in an updated comparison to general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulation models. This analysis reinforces the previously reported preference for magnetically arrested accretion flow models. We find that most simulations naturally produce a low level of circular polarization consistent with our upper limit and that Faraday conversion is likely the dominant production mechanism for circular polarization at 230 GHz in M87*.