Related papers: On the Dynamics and Evolution of Gravitational Ins…
Over the past 10 Gyr, star-forming galaxies have changed dramatically, from clumpy and gas rich, to rather quiescent stellar-dominated disks with specific star formation rates lower by factors of a few tens. We present a general theoretical…
We address the cosmological evolution of violent gravitational instability in high-redshift, massive, star-forming galactic discs. To this aim, we integrate in time the equations of mass and energy conservation under self-regulated…
[Abridged] Star and planet formation are the complex outcomes of gravitational collapse and angular momentum transport mediated by protostellar and protoplanetary disks. In this review we focus on the role of gravitational instability in…
The role of gravitational instability-driven turbulence in determining the structure and evolution of disk galaxies, and the extent to which gravity rather than feedback can explain galaxy properties, remains an open question. To address…
We explore the properties of cold gravitoturbulent accretion disks - non-fragmenting disks hovering on the verge of gravitational instability - using a realistic prescription for the effective viscosity caused by gravitational torques. This…
Gravitational instability plays an important role in driving gas accretion in massive protostellar discs. Particularly strong is the global gravitational instability, which arises when the disc mass is of order 0.1 of the mass of the…
We develop a model for the outer gravitationally unstable regions of accretion disks around massive black holes, for primeval or solar abundances. First we study star formation and evolution in a purely gaseous marginally unstable disk, and…
This paper considers gravitational perturbations in geometrically thin disks with rotation curves dominated by a central object, but with substantial contributions from magnetic pressure and tension. The treatment is general, but the…
In this paper, we extend our previous analysis (Lodato & Rice 2004) of the transport properties induced by gravitational instabilities in cooling, gaseous accretion discs to the case where the disc mass is comparable to the central object.…
Growth rates for gravitational instabilities in a thick disk of gas and stars are determined for a turbulent gas that dissipates on the local crossing time. The scale heights are derived from vertical equilibrium. The accuracy of the usual…
A simple model of gas accretion in young galaxy disks suggests that fast turbulent motions can be driven by accretion energy for a time t_acc~2(epsilon^{0.5} GM^2/xi V^3)^{0.5} where epsilon is the fraction of the accretion energy going…
The equilibrium state of a turbulent clumpy gas disk is analytically investigated. The disk consists of distinct self-gravitating clouds. Gravitational cloud-cloud interactions transfer energy over spatial scales and produce a viscosity,…
Low mass, self-gravitating accretion disks admit quasi-steady,`gravito-turbulent' states in which cooling balances turbulent viscous heating. However, numerical simulations show that gravito-turbulence cannot be sustained beyond dynamical…
In this paper we examine the issue of characterising the transport associated with gravitational instabilities in relatively cold discs, discussing in particular the conditions under which it can be described within a local, viscous…
We present a numerical model for the evolution of a protostellar disc that has formed self-consistently from the collapse of a molecular cloud core. The global evolution of the disc is followed for several million years after its formation.…
We study gravitational instability and consequent star formation in a wide range of isolated disk galaxies, using three-dimensional, smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations at resolution sufficient to fully resolve gravitational…
In this paper we examine the issue of characterizing the transport associated with gravitational instabilities in relatively cold discs, discussing in particular under which condition it can be described within a local, viscous framework.…
Semi-analytic models of self-gravitating discs often approximate the angular momentum transport generated by the gravitational instability using the phenomenology of viscosity. This allows the employment of the standard viscous evolution…
We perform numerical simulations of magneto-rotational instability in a local patch of accretion disk in which radiation pressure exceeds gas pressure. Such conditions may occur in the central regions of disks surrounding compact objects in…
The time dependent evolution of the accretion disk around black hole is computed. The classical description of the $\alpha$-viscosity is adopted so the evolution is driven by the instability operating in the innermost radiation-pressure…