Related papers: Superhumps: Confronting Theory with Observation
We investigate the mechanism of polar alignment for accretion discs in hierarchical systems (HSs) with more than two stars. In eccentric binary systems, low mass discs that are sufficiently tilted to the binary orbit align in a polar…
Observations of protoplanetary discs have revealed dust rings which are likely due to the presence of pressure bumps in the disc. Because these structures tend to trap drifting pebbles, it has been proposed that pressure bumps may play an…
The question whether the interaction of a circumbinary disc with the central binary system leads to shrinking or expansion of the binary orbit has attracted considerable interest as it impacts the evolution of binary black holes and stellar…
Using three-dimensional general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations with electron and proton thermodynamics and an electron cooling function, we probe the inner radial and vertical structure of weakly magnetized geometrically thin…
We show that the distribution of observed accretion rates is a powerful diagnostic of protoplanetary disc physics. Accretion due to turbulent ("viscous") transport of angular momentum results in a fundamentally different distribution of…
We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of the low mass X-ray binary GR Mus (XB 1254-690), and find strong evidence for the presence of a negative superhump with a period that is 2.4+/-0.3% shorter than the orbital. This…
The formation of resonant pairs of planets in exoplanetary systems involves planetary migration in the protoplanetary disc. After a resonant capture, the subsequent migration in this configuration leads to a large increase of planetary…
Supermassive black hole binaries are likely to accrete interstellar gas through a circumbinary disk. Shortly before merger, the inner portions of this circumbinary disk are subject to general relativistic effects. To study this regime, we…
A selection of results from the general relativistic MHD accretion simulations described in the previous talk are presented. We find that the magnetic field strength increases sharply with decreasing radius and is also enhanced near…
Recent hydrodynamical simulations have shown that circumbinary gas disks drive the orbits of binary black holes to become eccentric, even when general relativistic corrections to the orbit are significant. Here, we study the general…
These notes introduce and review some of the physical principles underlying the theory of astrophysical accretion, emphasizing the central roles of angular momentum transport, angular momentum loss, and radiative cooling in determining the…
The planetary mass-radius diagram is an observational result of central importance to understand planet formation. We present an updated version of our planet formation model based on the core accretion paradigm which allows to calculate…
The orbital period ratios of neighbouring sub-Neptunes are distributed asymmetrically near first-order resonances. There are deficits of systems---"troughs" in the period ratio histogram---just short of commensurability, and…
Recent surveys show that protoplanetary disks have lower levels of turbulence than expected based on their observed accretion rates. A viable solution to this is that magnetized disk winds dominate angular momentum transport. This has…
By means of three dimensional, high resolution hydrodynamical simulations we study the orbital evolution of weakly eccentric or inclined low-mass protoplanets embedded in gaseous discs subject to thermal diffusion. We consider both…
Perturber objects interacting with supermassive black hole accretion disks are often invoked to explain observed quasi-periodic behavior in active galactic nuclei (AGN). We present global, 3D general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD)…
We posit that accreting compact objects, including stellar mass black holes and neutron stars as well as supermassive black holes, may undergo extended periods of accretion during which the angular momentum of the disk at large scales is…
We have carried out and analyzed a set of axisymmetric MHD simulations of the evolution of a turbulent/diffusive accretion disc around an initially unmagnetized star. The disc is initially threaded by a weak magnetic field where the…
Binary star systems can accrete material originating from a circumbinary disc. Since it is common for the circumbinary disc to be tilted with respect to the binary orbital plane, we test whether the accretion dynamics can be a diagnostic…
We explore the thermodynamic and global structural properties of a local patch of an accretion disk whose parameters were chosen so that radiation pressure and gas pressure would be comparable in magnitude. Heating, radiative transport, and…