scholarly journals Wave mediated angular momentum transport in astrophysical boundary layers

2015 ◽  
Vol 579 ◽  
pp. A54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Hertfelder ◽  
Wilhelm Kley
2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S294) ◽  
pp. 349-352
Author(s):  
Chi-kwan Chan ◽  
Martin E. Pessah

AbstractThe physical modeling of the accretion disk boundary layer, the region where the disk meets the surface of the accreting star, usually relies on the assumption that angular momentum transport is opposite to the radial angular frequency gradient of the disk. The standard model for turbulent shear viscosity, widely adopted in astrophysics, satisfies this assumption by construction. However, this behavior is not supported by numerical simulations of turbulent magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) accretion disks, which show that angular momentum transport driven by the magnetorotational instability is inefficient in this inner disk region. I will discuss the results of a recent study on the generation of hydromagnetic stresses and energy density in the boundary layer around a weakly magnetized star. Our findings suggest that although magnetic energy density can be significantly amplified in this region, angular momentum transport is rather inefficient. This seems consistent with the results obtained in numerical simulations and suggests that the detailed structure of turbulent MHD boundary layers could differ appreciably from those derived within the standard framework of turbulent shear viscosity.


2001 ◽  
Vol 200 ◽  
pp. 410-414
Author(s):  
Günther Rüdiger ◽  
Udo Ziegler

Properties have been demonstrated of the magneto-rotational instability for two different applications, i.e. for a global spherical model and a box simulation with Keplerian background shear flow. In both nonlinear cases a dynamo operates with a negative (positive) α-effect in the northern (southern) disk hemisphere and in both cases the angular momentum transport is outwards. Keplerian accretion disks should therefore exhibit large-scale magnetic fields with a dipolar geometry of the poloidal components favoring jet formation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 641 ◽  
pp. A133
Author(s):  
N. Scepi ◽  
G. Lesur ◽  
G. Dubus ◽  
J. Jacquemin-Ide

Context. Dwarf novæ (DNe) and low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) show eruptions that are thought to be due to a thermal-viscous instability in their accretion disk. These eruptions provide constraints on angular momentum transport mechanisms. Aims. We explore the idea that angular momentum transport could be controlled by the dynamical evolution of the large-scale magnetic field. We study the impact of different prescriptions for the magnetic field evolution on the dynamics of the disk. This is a first step in confronting the theory of magnetic field transport with observations. Methods. We developed a version of the disk instability model that evolves the density, the temperature, and the large-scale vertical magnetic flux simultaneously. We took into account the accretion driven by turbulence or by a magnetized outflow with prescriptions taken, respectively, from shearing box simulations or self-similar solutions of magnetized outflows. To evolve the magnetic flux, we used a toy model with physically motivated prescriptions that depend mainly on the local magnetization β, where β is the ratio of thermal pressure to magnetic pressure. Results. We find that allowing magnetic flux to be advected inwards provides the best agreement with DNe light curves. This leads to a hybrid configuration with an inner magnetized disk, driven by angular momentum losses to an MHD outflow, sharply transiting to an outer weakly-magnetized turbulent disk where the eruptions are triggered. The dynamical impact is equivalent to truncating a viscous disk so that it does not extend down to the compact object, with the truncation radius dependent on the magnetic flux and evolving as Ṁ−2/3. Conclusions. Models of DNe and LMXB light curves typically require the outer, viscous disk to be truncated in order to match the observations. There is no generic explanation for this truncation. We propose that it is a natural outcome of the presence of large-scale magnetic fields in both DNe and LMXBs, with the magnetic flux accumulating towards the center to produce a magnetized disk with a fast accretion timescale.


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