Related papers: Surface Layer Accretion in Transitional and Conven…
How do T Tauri disks accrete? The magneto-rotational instability (MRI) supplies one means, but protoplanetary disk gas is typically too poorly ionized to be magnetically active. Here we show that the MRI can, in fact, explain observed…
Whether protoplanetary disks accrete at observationally significant rates by the magnetorotational instability (MRI) depends on how well ionized they are. Disk surface layers ionized by stellar X-rays are susceptible to charge…
Observations of T Tauri stars and young brown dwarfs suggest that the accretion rates of their disks scale strongly with the central stellar mass, approximately $\mdot \propto M_*^2$. No dependence of accretion rate on stellar mass is…
Activity of the nuclei of galaxies and stellar mass systems involving disk accretion to black holes is thought to be due to (1) a small-scale turbulent magnetic field in the disk (due to the magneto-rotational instability or MRI) which…
Two decades ago "transitional disks" described spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of T Tauri stars with small near-IR excesses, but significant mid- and far-IR excesses. Many inferred this indicated dust-free holes in disks, possibly…
We use 2D hydrodynamic simulations of viscous disks to examine whether dynamically-interacting multiple giant planets can explain the large gaps (spanning over one order of magnitude in radius) inferred for the transitional and…
Transitional disks are protoplanetary disk around young stars that display inner holes in the dust distribution within a few AU, which is accompanied nevertheless by some gas accretion onto the central star. These cavities could possibly be…
We determine inner disk sizes and temperatures for four solar-type (1-2 M$_{\odot}$) classical T Tauri stars (AS 207A, V2508 Oph, AS 205A, and PX Vul) using 2.2 $\mu$m observations from the Keck Interferometer. Nearly contemporaneous…
An instability can potentially operate in highly irradiated disks where the disk sharply transitions from being radially transparent to opaque (the 'transition region'). Such conditions may exist at the inner edges of transitional disks…
Magnetorotational instability (MRI) is the most promising mechanism behind accretion in low-mass protostellar disks. Here we present the first analysis of the global structure and evolution of non-ideal MRI-driven T-Tauri disks on…
We construct detailed vertical structure models of irradiated accretion disks around T Tauri stars with interstellar medium dust uniformly mixed with gas. The dependence of the structure and emission properties on mass accretion rate,…
Physical processes that redistribute or remove angular momentum from protoplanetary disks can drive mass accretion onto the star and affect the outcome of planet formation. Despite ubiquitous evidence that protoplanetary disks are engaged…
The high-energy radiation fields of T Tauri stars (TTS) should affect the surrounding circumstellar disk, having implications for disk transport and heating. Yet, observational evidence of the effect of high-energy fields on disks is…
We conjecture that observed protoplanetary disc accretion rates may be explained with low viscosities which could be the result of hydrodynamic turbulence. We show that viscosities parameterized in the usual way with $\alpha \gtrsim…
Magnetic fields in accretion disks play a dominant role during the star formation process but have hitherto been observationally poorly constrained. Field strengths have been inferred on T Tauri stars themselves and possibly in the…
Over two hundred protoplanetary disk systems have been resolved by ALMA, and the vast majority suggest the presence of planets. The dust gaps in transition disks are considered evidence of giant planets sculpting gas and dust under…
Although there has yet been no undisputed discovery of a still-forming planet embedded in a gaseous protoplanetary disk, the cleared inner holes of transitional disks may be signposts of young planets. Here we show that the subset of…
We examine whether the magnetorotational instability (MRI) can serve as a mechanism of angular momentum transport in circumplanetary disks. For the MRI to operate the ionization degree must be sufficiently high and the magnetic pressure…
Large inner dust gaps in transition disks are frequently posited as evidence of giant planets sculpting gas and dust in the disk, or the opening of a gap by photoevaporative winds. Although the former hypothesis is strongly supported by the…
X-ray luminosities of accreting T Tauri stars are observed to be systematically lower than those of non-accretors. There is as yet no widely accepted physical explanation for this effect, though it has been suggested that accretion somehow…