On the role of disks in the formation of stellar systems: A numerical parameter study of rapid accretion

doi:10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1585

Title: On the role of disks in the formation of stellar systems: A numerical parameter study of rapid accretion

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Abstract

We study rapidly accreting, gravitationally unstable disks with a series of idealized global, numerical experiments using the code ORION. Our numerical parameter study focuses on protostellar disks, showing that one can predict disk behavior and the multiplicity of the accreting star system as a function of two dimensionless parameters which compare the infall rate to the disk sound speed and orbital period. Although gravitational instabilities become strong, we find that fragmentation into binary or multiple systems occurs only when material falls in several times more rapidly than the canonical isothermal limit. The disk-to-star accretion rate is proportional to the infall rate and governed by gravitational torques generated by low-m spiral modes. Furthermore, we also confirm the existence of a maximum stable disk mass: disks that exceed ~50% of the total system mass are subject to fragmentation and the subsequent formation of binary companions.

Authors:

Kratter, Kaitlin M. ^[1]; Matzner, Christopher D. ^[1]; Krumholz, Mark R. ^[2]; Klein, Richard I. ^[3]

Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, ON (United States)
Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Publication Date:: 2009-12-23

Research Org.:: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE

OSTI Identifier:: 1253692

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-421115
Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Astrophysical Journal

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 708; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X

Publisher:: Institute of Physics (IOP)

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; accretion; accretion disks; binaries: general; stars: formation; stars: low-mass; brown dwarfs

Citation Formats


                    Kratter, Kaitlin M., Matzner, Christopher D., Krumholz, Mark R., and Klein, Richard I. On the role of disks in the formation of stellar systems: A numerical parameter study of rapid accretion.  United States: N. p., 2009. 
        Web.  doi:10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1585.

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                    Kratter, Kaitlin M., Matzner, Christopher D., Krumholz, Mark R., & Klein, Richard I. On the role of disks in the formation of stellar systems: A numerical parameter study of rapid accretion.  United States.  doi:10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1585.

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                    Kratter, Kaitlin M., Matzner, Christopher D., Krumholz, Mark R., and Klein, Richard I. Wed .  
        "On the role of disks in the formation of stellar systems: A numerical parameter study of rapid accretion".  United States.  doi:10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1585.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1253692.

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@article{osti_1253692,

  title        = {On the role of disks in the formation of stellar systems: A numerical parameter study of rapid accretion},

  author       = {Kratter, Kaitlin M. and Matzner, Christopher D. and Krumholz, Mark R. and Klein, Richard I.},

  abstractNote = {We study rapidly accreting, gravitationally unstable disks with a series of idealized global, numerical experiments using the code ORION. Our numerical parameter study focuses on protostellar disks, showing that one can predict disk behavior and the multiplicity of the accreting star system as a function of two dimensionless parameters which compare the infall rate to the disk sound speed and orbital period. Although gravitational instabilities become strong, we find that fragmentation into binary or multiple systems occurs only when material falls in several times more rapidly than the canonical isothermal limit. The disk-to-star accretion rate is proportional to the infall rate and governed by gravitational torques generated by low-m spiral modes. Furthermore, we also confirm the existence of a maximum stable disk mass: disks that exceed ~50% of the total system mass are subject to fragmentation and the subsequent formation of binary companions.},

  doi          = {10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1585},

  journal      = {Astrophysical Journal},

  number       = 2,

  volume       = 708,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2009},

  month        = {12}

}

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DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1585

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