Planet formation and dynamics

Abstract:

We study the stability of an accretion disc with an embedded toroidal magnetic field to general perturbations. Disc models are considered in which the equilibrium variables depend on both the radial and vertical coordinates. We consider the full global problem in which the disc may be in the form of a narrow annulus, or occupy a significant radial extent. Perturbations with azimuthal mode number m in the range zero up to the ratio of the radius to disc scmithickness are considered. Discs containing a purely toroidal magnetic field are always found to be unstable. We find spectra of unstable modes using local techniques. In the absence of dissipation, these modes may occupy arbitrarily small scales in the radial and vertical directions. One class of modes is driven primarily by buoyancy, while the other is driven by shear independently of the equilibrium stratification. The first type of instability predominates if the field is large, while the second type predominates if the field is weak and the underlying medium is strongly stable to convection. We also investigate stability by solving the initial value problem for perturbations numerically. We find, for our disc models, that local instabilities predominate over any possible global instability. Their behaviour is in good accord with the local analysis. The associated growth rates become just less than the orbital frequency when the ratio of magnetic energy density to pressure reaches about 10 per cent. Instabilities of the kinds discussed here may provide a mechanism for limiting the growth of toroidal fields in dynamo models of accretion discs.

Abstract:

We present the results of non-linear, hydrodynamic simulations, in three dimensions, of the tidal perturbation of accretion discs in binary systems where the orbit is circular and not necessarily coplanar with the disc mid-plane. The accretion discs are assumed to be geometrically thin, and of low mass relative to the stellar mass so that they are governed by thermal pressure and viscosity, but not self-gravity. The parameters that we consider in our models are the ratio of the orbital distance to the disc radius, D/R, the binary mass ratio, Ms/Mp, the initial inclination angle between the orbit and disc planes, δ, and the Mach number in the outer parts of the unperturbed disc, ℳ. Since we consider non-self-gravitating discs, these calculations are relevant to protostellar binaries with separations below a few hundred au. For binary mass ratios of around unity and D/R in the range 3 to 4, we find that the global evolution of the discs is governed primarily by the value of ℳ. For relatively low Mach numbers (i.e. ℳ = 10 to 20) we find that the discs develop a mildly warped structure, are tidally truncated, and undergo a near rigid body precession at a rate which is in close agreement with analytical arguments. For higher Mach numbers (ℳ ≈ 30), the evolution is towards a considerably more warped structure, but the disc none the less maintains itself as a long-lived, coherent entity. A further increase in Mach number to ℳ = 50 leads to a dramatic disruption of the disc as a result of differential precession, since the sound speed is too low to allow efficient communication between constituent parts of the disc. Additionally, it is found that the inclination angle between the disc and the orbital angular momentum vectors evolves on a longer time-scale, which is probably the viscous evolution time-scale of the disc. The calculations are relevant to a number of observed astrophysical phenomena, including the precession of jets associated with young stars, the high spectral index of some T Tauri stars, and the light curves of X-ray binaries such as Hercules X-1 which suggest the presence of precessing accretion discs.

Abstract:

We compute here the spectral energy distribution (SED) of warped T Tauri discs in a general way. In a previous paper we analytically calculated, in a linear approximation, the response of a circumstellar disc to tidal forces owing to a stellar companion in a non-coplanar young binary system. Here, we consider tidally induced warps of larger amplitude, and we use these previous results to parametrize the disc deformation. We then compute the energy emitted in a given direction by the system of the warped disc and central star, taking into account shadowing effects. We find that the parametrized warp model produces a broad variety of synthetic SEDs. Some of them are comparable to those of T Tauri stars with infrared excess (Class II sources), whereas others resemble Class I protostellar sources. By comparing models with actual observations of both a T Tauri star with high spectral index and a Class I source, we find that the derived warp and disc parameters are not unrealistic, and we conclude that tidal interactions in T Tauri binary systems with intermediate separations must play a role in shaping the SEDs of these stars.