Influence of Luminosity Bursts on Properties of Protostellar Disks

Author(s)
Eduard Vorobyov, Yaroslav Pavlyuchenkov, Patricia Trinkl
Abstract

A (2+ 1)-dimensional numerical model for the formation and evolution of young stellar objects with sub-solar masses is presented. The numerical hydrodynamicall code describing the formation and evolution of a pølar disk in a two-dimensional approximation is supplemented by one-dimensional code for the evolution of the star and an algorithm for establishing the vertical structure of the disk. This code is used to investigate the influence of luminosity bursts with intensities similar to those observed in FU Orionis objects (FUors) on the properties and thermal balance of pølar disks. A model with gravitational instability and fragmentation of the disk, with subsequent migration of the fragments onto the protostar, is used as a basic model for FUors. Typical FUor bursts (L ∼ 100 L

) can appreciably influence the thermal balance of their disks and parent envelopes, leading to an increase in the disk temperature by more than a factor of two. On the other hand, massive fragments in the disk are only weakly perturbed by such bursts, partially due to screening by the disk and partially due to their high temperature brought about by adiabatic heating. Apart from massive fragments, the characteristic thermal time scales are appreciably shorter than the dynamical time scales throughout the radial extent of the disk and envelope; this enables the use of a stationary radiative-transfer equation when determining the vertical structure of the disk.

Organisation(s)
Department of Astrophysics
External organisation(s)
Russian Academy of Sciences, Southern Federal University
Journal
Astronomy Reports
Volume
58
Pages
522-536
No. of pages
15
ISSN
1063-7729
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063772914080083
Publication date
08-2014
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103004 Astrophysics
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/47c32838-7258-4da4-8da4-d559e52534cb