VARIABLE ACCRETION OUTBURSTS IN PROTOSTELLAR EVOLUTION

Journal Article · Wed Feb 20 04:00:00 EST 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/764/2/141· OSTI ID:22167721

Bae, Jaehan; Hartmann, Lee ^[1]; Zhu, Zhaohuan ^[2]; Gammie, Charles ^[3]

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1. Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48105 (United States)
2. Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, 4 Ivy Lane, Peyton Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)
3. Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1002 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801 (United States)

We extend the one-dimensional, two-zone models of long-term protostellar disk evolution with infall of Zhu et al. to consider the potential effects of a finite viscosity in regions where the ionization is too low for the magnetorotational instability (MRI) to operate (the {sup d}ead zone{sup )}. We find that the presence of a small but finite dead zone viscosity, as suggested by simulations of stratified disks with MRI-active outer layers, can trigger inside-out bursts of accretion, starting at or near the inner edge of the disk, instead of the previously found outside-in bursts with zero dead zone viscosity, which originate at a few AU in radius. These inside-out bursts of accretion bear a qualitative resemblance to the outburst behavior of one FU Ori object, V1515 Cyg, in contrast to the outside-in burst models, which more closely resemble the accretion events in FU Ori and V1057 Cyg. Our results suggest that the type and frequency of outbursts are potentially a probe of transport efficiency in the dead zone. Simulations must treat the inner disk regions, R {approx}< 0.5 AU, to show the detailed time evolution of accretion outbursts in general and to observe the inside-out bursts in particular.

• OSTI ID: 22167721
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 764; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ACCRETION DISKS
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
EFFICIENCY
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PROTOSTARS
STAR EVOLUTION
VISCOSITY