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Title: On the thermal stability of radiation-dominated accretion disks

Abstract

We study the long-term thermal stability of radiation-dominated disks in which the vertical structure is determined self-consistently by the balance of heating due to the dissipation of MHD turbulence driven by magneto-rotational instability (MRI) and cooling due to radiation emitted at the photosphere. The calculations adopt the local shearing box approximation and utilize the recently developed radiation transfer module in the Athena MHD code based on a variable Eddington tensor rather than an assumed local closure. After saturation of the MRI, in many cases the disk maintains a steady vertical structure for many thermal times. However, in every case in which the box size in the horizontal directions are at least one pressure scale height, fluctuations associated with MRI turbulence and dynamo action in the disk eventually trigger a thermal runaway that causes the disk to either expand or contract until the calculation must be terminated. During runaway, the dependence of the heating and cooling rates on total pressure satisfy the simplest criterion for classical thermal instability. We identify several physical reasons why the thermal runaway observed in our simulations differ from the standard α disk model; for example, the advection of radiation contributes a non-negligible fraction to the verticalmore » energy flux at the largest radiation pressure, most of the dissipation does not happen in the disk mid-plane, and the change of dissipation scale height with mid-plane pressure is slower than the change of density scale height. We discuss how and why our results differ from those published previously. Such thermal runaway behavior might have important implications for interpreting temporal variability in observed systems, but fully global simulations are required to study the saturated state before detailed predictions can be made.« less

Authors:
;  [1];  [2]
  1. Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)
  2. Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Toronto, ON M5S3H4 (Canada)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22341987
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 778; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ACCRETION DISKS; ADVECTION; APPROXIMATIONS; BALANCES; CONTRACTS; DENSITY; EMISSION; FLUCTUATIONS; FORECASTING; INSTABILITY; MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS; NMR IMAGING; PHOTOSPHERE; RADIANT HEAT TRANSFER; RADIATION PRESSURE; SATURATION; SCALE HEIGHT; SIMULATION; STABILITY; TURBULENCE

Citation Formats

Jiang, Yan-Fei, Stone, James M., and Davis, Shane W. On the thermal stability of radiation-dominated accretion disks. United States: N. p., 2013. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/778/1/65.
Jiang, Yan-Fei, Stone, James M., & Davis, Shane W. On the thermal stability of radiation-dominated accretion disks. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/778/1/65
Jiang, Yan-Fei, Stone, James M., and Davis, Shane W. 2013. "On the thermal stability of radiation-dominated accretion disks". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/778/1/65.
@article{osti_22341987,
title = {On the thermal stability of radiation-dominated accretion disks},
author = {Jiang, Yan-Fei and Stone, James M. and Davis, Shane W.},
abstractNote = {We study the long-term thermal stability of radiation-dominated disks in which the vertical structure is determined self-consistently by the balance of heating due to the dissipation of MHD turbulence driven by magneto-rotational instability (MRI) and cooling due to radiation emitted at the photosphere. The calculations adopt the local shearing box approximation and utilize the recently developed radiation transfer module in the Athena MHD code based on a variable Eddington tensor rather than an assumed local closure. After saturation of the MRI, in many cases the disk maintains a steady vertical structure for many thermal times. However, in every case in which the box size in the horizontal directions are at least one pressure scale height, fluctuations associated with MRI turbulence and dynamo action in the disk eventually trigger a thermal runaway that causes the disk to either expand or contract until the calculation must be terminated. During runaway, the dependence of the heating and cooling rates on total pressure satisfy the simplest criterion for classical thermal instability. We identify several physical reasons why the thermal runaway observed in our simulations differ from the standard α disk model; for example, the advection of radiation contributes a non-negligible fraction to the vertical energy flux at the largest radiation pressure, most of the dissipation does not happen in the disk mid-plane, and the change of dissipation scale height with mid-plane pressure is slower than the change of density scale height. We discuss how and why our results differ from those published previously. Such thermal runaway behavior might have important implications for interpreting temporal variability in observed systems, but fully global simulations are required to study the saturated state before detailed predictions can be made.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/778/1/65},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22341987}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 1,
volume = 778,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2013},
month = {Wed Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2013}
}