Warp propagation in astrophysical discs
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
2015-12-09 v1
Abstract
Astrophysical discs are often warped, that is, their orbital planes change with radius. This occurs whenever there is a non-axisymmetric force acting on the disc, for example the Lense-Thirring precession induced by a misaligned spinning black hole, or the gravitational pull of a misaligned companion. Such misalignments appear to be generic in astrophysics. The wide range of systems that can harbour warped discs - protostars, X-ray binaries, tidal disruption events, quasars and others - allows for a rich variety in the disc's response. Here we review the basic physics of warped discs and its implications.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1505.07827,
title = {Warp propagation in astrophysical discs},
author = {Chris Nixon and Andrew King},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1505.07827},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
To be published in Astrophysical Black Holes by Haardt et al., Lecture Notes in Physics, Springer 2015. 19 pages, 2 figures