The 230 GHz Variability of Numerical Models of Sagittarius A* I. Parameter Surveys on Varying Ion-electron Temperature Ratios Under Strongly Magnetized Conditions

The 230 GHz lightcurves of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) predicted by general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) and ray-tracing (GRRT) models in Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration et al. (2022) have higher variability M_Δ T compared to observations. In this series of papers, we explore the origin of such large brightness variability. In this first paper, we performed large GRRT parameter surveys that span from the optically thin to the optically thick regimes, covering the ion-electron temperature ratio under strongly magnetized conditions, R_ Low, from 1 to 60. We find that increasing R_ Low can lead to either an increase or a reduction in M_Δ T depending on other model parameters, making it consistent with the observed variability of Sgr A* in some cases. Our analysis of GRRT image snapshots finds that the major contribution to the large M_Δ T for the R_ Low = 1 models comes from the photon rings. However, secondary contributions from the accretion flow are also visible depending on the spin parameter. Our work demonstrates the importance of the electron temperature used for modelling radiatively inefficient accretion flows and places new constraints on the ion-electron temperature ratio. A more in-depth analysis for understanding the dependencies of M_Δ T on R_ Low will be performed in subsequent papers.