Spiral wave viscosity in self-gravitating accretion disks

Journal Article · Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1988 · Astrophys. J.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/166682· OSTI ID:6594997

Anthony, D M; Carlberg, R G

N-body experiments on an accretion disk comprised of weakly self-gravitating particles in a background Keplerian potential are described. The results show that spiral waves are an important mechanism for the accretion of particles in a rotating disk via angular momentum losses. The spiral waves give a viscosity to the disk that transports angular momentum and causes the particles to spiral slowly toward the central mass. The rate of angular momentum loss is found to be proportional to the fractional disk mass as f exp 7/2. For a 1 percent self-gravitating disk, the time scale for total accretion is found to be on the order of a million rotation periods. An autocorrelation analysis shows that the fundamental potential perturbations are the spiral wakes described by Julian and Toomre (1966). Applications to quasars and protoplanetary disks are briefly discussed. 19 references.

• Research Organization: York Univ., Toronto (Canada)
• OSTI ID: 6594997
• Journal Information: Astrophys. J.; (United States), Vol. 332
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ACCRETION DISKS
MANY-BODY PROBLEM
ANGULAR MOMENTUM
ENERGY LOSSES
GRAVITATION
MOMENTUM TRANSFER
PROTOPLANETS
QUASARS
ROTATION
VISCOSITY
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
LOSSES
MOTION
640102* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources