Related papers: The Challenge of Sub-Keplerian Rotation for Disk W…
We carried out axisymmetric simulations of disk accretion to a rapidly rotating magnetized star in the "propeller" regime. Simulations show that propellers may be "weak" (with no outflows), and "strong" (with outflows). Investigation of the…
We study the two-dimensional, time-dependent MHD of radiation-driven winds from luminous accretion disks initially threaded by a purely axial magnetic field. The radiation force is mediated primarily by spectral lines. We use ideal MHD to…
The inner region of the accretion disk around a magnetized star is subjected to magnetic torques that induce warping and precession of the disk. These torques arise from interactions between the stellar field and the induced electric…
The origin of disks surrounding young stars has direct implications for our understanding of the formation of planetary systems. In the interstellar clouds from which star form, angular momentum is regulated by magnetic fields, preventing…
When they first appear in the HR diagram, young stars rotate at a mere 10\% of their break-up velocity. They must have lost most of the angular momentum initially contained in the parental cloud, the so-called angular momentum problem. We…
This is a doctorate level lecture on the physics of accretion discs driving magnetically self-confined jets, usually referred to in the literature as disc winds. I will first review the governing magnetohydrodynamic equations and then…
Global evolution and dispersal of protoplanetary disks (PPDs) is governed by disk angular momentum transport and mass-loss processes. Recent numerical studies suggest that angular momentum transport in the inner region of PPDs is largely…
Disks of bodies orbiting a much more massive central object are extremely common in astrophysics. When the orbits comprising such disks are eccentric, we show they are susceptible to a new dynamical instability. Gravitational forces between…
An analytic model is developed for the erosion of protoplanetary gas discs by high velocity magnetized stellar winds. The winds are centrifugally driven from the surface of rapidly rotating, strongly magnetized young stars. The presence of…
Accretion flows may produce profuse winds when they have positive specific energy. Winds deplete matter from the inner region of the disk and makes the inner region thinner, optically. Since there are fewer electrons in this region, it…
Magnetic, radiation pressure, and thermal driving are the three mechanisms capable of launching accretion disk winds. In X-ray binaries, radiation pressure is often not significant, as in many systems the luminosity is too low for driving…
I review the main results from recent 2-D, time-dependent hydrodynamic models of radiation-driven winds from accretion disks in AGN. I also discuss the physical conditions needed for a disk wind to be shielded from the strong X-rays and to…
In this work the most spectacular phenomena occurring during the formation of a star are briefly reviewed: accretion through a rotating disc of matter and outflow through the poles of the new stellar object. Magnetic fields have been…
Cold steady-state disk wind theory from near Keplerian accretion disks requires a large scale magnetic field at near equipartition strength. However the minimum magnetization has never been tested. We investigate the time evolution of an…
External cosmic rays impinging upon circumstellar disks associated with young stellar objects provide an important source of ionization, and as such, play an important role in disk evolution and planet formation. However, these incoming…
We consider the accretion process in a disk with magnetic fields that are dragged in from the interstellar medium by gravitational collapse. Two diffusive processes are at work in the system: (1) "viscous" torques exerted by turbulent and…
We show that a large-scale, weak magnetic field threading a turbulent accretion disk tends to be advected inward, contrary to previous suggestions that it will be stopped by outward diffusion. The efficient inward transport is a consequence…
There is increasing evidence that low mass stars with circumstellar disks can be born close to massive stars, in some cases within tenths of a pc. If the disks have lifetimes greater than those of the more massive stars, they are exposed to…
The theory of radiatively driven winds successfully explains the key points of the stellar winds of hot massive stars. However, there is an apparent break-down of this paradigm at L/Lsun<5.2: the stellar wind momentum is smaller than…
Study of observed spin evolution of long-period X-ray pulsars challenges quasi-spherical and Keplerian disk accretion scenarios. It suggests that the magnetospheric radius of the neutron stars is substantially smaller than Alfven radius and…