From discs to planetesimals: Evolution of gas and dust discs

I review the processes that shape the evolution of protoplanetary discs around young, solar-mass stars. I first discuss observations of protoplanetary discs, and note in particular the constraints these observations place on models of disc evolution. The processes that affect the evolution of gas discs are then discussed, with the focus in particular on viscous accretion and photoevaporation, and recent models which combine the two. I then discuss the dynamics and growth of dust grains in discs, considering models of grain growth, the gas–grain interaction and planetesimal formation, and review recent research in this area. Lastly, I consider the so-called “transitional” discs, which are thought to be observed during disc dispersal. Recent observations and models of these systems are reviewed, and prospects for using statistical surveys to distinguish between the various proposed models are discussed.     

X-ray spectroscopy of the broad-line radio galaxy 3C 111

We present an ASCA observation of the broad-line radio galaxy 3C 111. The X-ray spectrum is well described by a model consisting of a photoelectrically absorbed power-law form. The inferred absorbing column density is significantly greater than expected on the basis of 21-cm measurements of Galactic H  I . Whilst this may be the result of intrinsic absorption from a circumnuclear torus or highly warped accretion disc, inhomogeneities and molecular gas within the foreground giant molecular cloud may also be responsible for some of this excess absorption. We also claim a marginal detection of a broad iron Kα line which is well explained as being a fluorescent line originating from the central regions of a radiatively efficient accretion disc. This line appears weak in comparison to those found in (radio-quiet) Seyfert nuclei. We briefly discuss the implications of this fact.     

Narrow‐Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies with high‐energy sharp spectral drops: reflection‐versus absorption models

With the launch of XMM‐Newton in 1999, two Narrow‐Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies (NLS1s) have been detected (IRAS 13224–3809 and 1H 0707–495) showing sharp spectral drops at energies equal or above the neutral Fe K edge at 7.1 keV without any narrow Fe K reemission. In this paper I summarize our present knowledge on the observed properties of sharp high‐energy spectral drops. I list the problems presently arising from the reflection dominated and the optically thick disc models. Finally, I present an alternative solution which consists of a combination of the accretion disc model and the reflection dominated model. This might solve the problems of the standard accretion disc model. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Tidally distorted accretion discs in binary stars

The non-axisymmetric features observed in the discs of dwarf novae in outburst are usually considered to be spiral shocks, which are the non-linear relatives of tidally excited waves. This interpretation suffers from a number of problems. For example, the natural site of wave excitation lies outside the Roche lobe, the disc must be especially hot, and most treatments of wave propagation do not take into account the vertical structure of the disc.
In this paper I construct a detailed semi-analytical model of the non-linear tidal distortion of a thin, three-dimensional accretion disc by a binary companion on a circular orbit. The analysis presented here allows for vertical motion and radiative energy transport, and introduces a simple model for the turbulent magnetic stress. The   m =2  inner vertical resonance has an important influence on the amplitude and phase of the tidal distortion. I show that the observed patterns find a natural explanation if the emission is associated with the tidally thickened sectors of the outer disc, which may be irradiated from the centre. According to this hypothesis, it may be possible to constrain the physical parameters of the disc through future observations.     

Magnetic torques between accretion discs and stars

I show in this paper that two types of magnetic torques can appear in the interaction between an accretion disc and a magnetic accretor. There is the well-known torque resulting from the difference in angular velocity between the accretion disc and the star, but in addition there is a torque coming from the interaction between the stellar magnetic field and the disc's own magnetic field. The latter form of magnetic torque decreases in strength more slowly with increasing radius, and will therefore dominate at large radii. The direction of the disc field is not determined by the difference in angular velocity between the star and the disc as in the Ghosh &38; Lamb model, but rather is a free parameter. The magnetic torque may therefore either spin up or spin down the star, and the torque changes sign if the magnetic field in the disc reverses. I suggest that this mechanism can explain the torque reversals that have been observed in some disc-fed X-ray pulsars.     

Core instability models of giant planet accretion – II. Forming planetary systems

We develop a simple model for computing planetary formation based on the core instability model for the gas accretion and the oligarchic growth regime for the accretion of the solid core. In this model several planets can form simultaneously in the disc, a fact that has important implications especially for the changes in the dynamic of the planetesimals and the growth of the cores since we consider the collision between them as a source of potential growth. The type I and type II migration of the embryos and the migration of the planetesimals due to the interaction with the disc of gas are also taken into account. With this model we consider different initial conditions to generate a variety of planetary systems and analyse them statistically. We explore the effects of using different type I migration rates on the final number of planets formed per planetary system such as on the distribution of masses and semimajor axis of extrasolar planets, where we also analyse the implications of considering different gas accretion rates. A particularly interesting result is the generation of a larger population of habitable planets when the gas accretion rate and type I migration are slower.     

Reprocessed emission from warped accretion discs with application to X-ray iron line profiles

Fluorescent iron line profiles currently provide the best diagnostic for engine geometries of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Here we construct a method for calculating the relativistic iron line profile from an arbitrarily warped accretion disc, illuminated from above and below by hard X-ray sources. This substantially generalizes previous calculations of reprocessing by accretion discs by including non-axisymmetric effects. We include a relativistic treatment of shadowing by ray-tracing photon paths along Schwarzschild geodesics. We apply this method to two classes of warped discs, and generate a selection of resulting line profiles. New profile features include a time-varying line profile if the warp precesses about the disc, profile differences between 'twisted' and 'twist-free' warps and the possibility of steeper red and softer blue fall-offs than for flat discs. We discuss some qualitative implications of the line profiles in the context of Type I and II Seyfert AGN and other sources.     

A massive thick disc around a massive black hole and its runaway instability

We investigate the runaway instability of configurations consisting of a massive dense but non-self-gravitating thick disc/torus surrounding a massive black hole (MBH). We limit our model parameters to values that result in a self-consistent thick disc around an MBH. We identify, analytically, the index of the angular momentum distribution that will form a thick disc as an initial equilibrium state, and obtain the mass ratio of the disc to the central black hole for which the disc is dominated by the radiation pressure. In our theoretical framework we find that a self-consistent thick disc with constant angular momentum leads to a runaway instability on a dynamical time-scale. However, even a slight increase of the specific angular momentum outwards has a strong stabilizing effect on the accretion process. Finally, we discuss our results and present possible applications to high-energy emission.     

A note on the conditions for SSD–ADAF transitions

One of the necessary matching conditions between an optically thin, hot, advectively dominated part of an accretion disc (ADAF) and the standard Shakura–Sunyaev disc (SSD) part is that the matching transition region must rotate with an orbital speed that is faster than the Keplerian one. We discuss properties of the SSD–ADAF transition in terms of a simple two-dimensional hydrodynamical model.     

Morphology, photometry and kinematics of N-body bars – I. Three models with different halo central concentrations

We discuss the morphology, photometry and kinematics of the bars which have formed in three N -body simulations. These have initially the same disc and the same halo-to-disc mass ratio, but their haloes have very different central concentrations. The third model includes a bulge. The bar in the model with the centrally concentrated halo (model MH) is much stronger, longer and thinner than the bar in the model with the less centrally concentrated halo (model MD). Its shape, when viewed side-on, evolves from boxy to peanut and then to 'X'-shaped, as opposed to that of model MD, which stays boxy. The projected density profiles obtained from cuts along the bar major axis, for both the face-on and the edge-on views, show a flat part, as opposed to those of model MD which are falling rapidly. A Fourier analysis of the face-on density distribution of model MH shows very large  m=2  , 4, 6 and 8 components. Contrary to this, for model MD the components  m=6  and 8 are negligible. The velocity field of model MH shows strong deviations from axial symmetry, and in particular has wavy isovelocities near the end of the bar when viewed along the bar minor axis. When viewed edge-on, it shows cylindrical rotation, which the MD model does not. The properties of the bar of the model with a bulge and a non-centrally concentrated halo (MDB) are intermediate between those of the bars of the other two models. All three models exhibit a lot of inflow of the disc material during their evolution, so that by the end of the simulations the disc dominates over the halo in the inner parts, even for model MH, for which the halo and disc contributions were initially comparable in that region.     

Constraints on the ionizing flux emitted by T Tauri stars

We present the results of an analysis of ultraviolet observations of T Tauri stars (TTs). By analysing emission measures taken from the literature, we derive rates of ionizing photons from the chromospheres of five classical TTs in the range  ∼10⁴¹–10⁴⁴  photon s⁻¹, although these values are subject to large uncertainties. We propose that the He  ii /C  iv line ratio can be used as a reddening-independent indicator of the hardness of the ultraviolet spectrum emitted by TTs. By studying this line ratio in a much larger sample of objects, we find evidence for an ionizing flux which does not decrease, and may even increase, as TTs evolve. This implies that a significant fraction of the ionizing flux from TTs is not powered by the accretion of disc material on to the central object, and we discuss the significance of this result and its implications for models of disc evolution. The presence of a significant ionizing flux in the later stages of circumstellar disc evolution provides an important new constraint on disc photoevaporation models.     

Self-Collimated Jets, Accretion Discs and Young Stars

This paper is focused on the huge dynamical importance of the mass load in magnetized jet models. I will first review some `naive' questions (Why should jets be magnetized? What is the jet driving source?), then show why the jet mass load is so important and why numerical simulations are unable yet to deal with jet formation. I will afterwards briefly describe some results of the only accretion disc model addressing explicitely this question and present a possible star-disc magnetospheric interaction giving rise to time-dependent outbursts.     

The field of NGC 6397 as a test for Galactic models

Taking advantage of recent Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) data for field stars in the region of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 6397, we tested the predictions of several Galactic models with star counts reaching a largely unexplored range of magnitudes, down to V ∼26.5. After updating the input stellar ( V − I ) colours, we found that the two-component Bahcall–Soneira (B&S) model can be put into satisfactory agreement with observations for suitable choices of disc/spheroid luminosity functions (LFs). However, if one assumes the disc LF of Gould, Bahcall and Flynn together with the spheroid LF of Gould, Flynn and Bahcall, there is no way to reconcile the predicted and observed V -magnitude distribution. We also analysed the agreement between observed and predicted magnitude and colour distributions for two selected models with a thick disc component. Even in this case there are suitable combinations of model parameters and faint-magnitude LFs that can give a reasonable agreement with observational star counts in both magnitude and colour. However, the above-quoted combination of Gould et al. LFs again gives predictions in clear disagreement with observations.     

γ暴研究新进展—标准模型及后标准效应

1997年以来，γ暴的研究获得了突飞猛进的发展，对这一领域近年来的新进展作了简短的评述，特别是讨论了标准模型的建立和后标准效应的研究进展。     

Magnetic Interaction Between Stars And Accretion Disks

In this review I consider modern theoretical models of coupled star–disk magnetospheres. I discuss a number of models, both stationary and time-dependent, and examine what physical conditions govern the selection of a preferred model.     

Evolution of the optical spectrum of SN 1987a in the large magellanic cloud

The evolution of the spectrum of SN1987a is traced from 1987 February 26 to March 31. Based on the low-resolution spectroscopic data we identify the lines of H, He I, Na I, Fe II, Sc II, Ca II which are known to be present in Type II Supernovae, and also present evidence for the existence of lines of Mg I, Ca_I, O I, and N I. We discuss the evolution of the Hα profile, and draw attention to its complex structure around March 30. Close to the rest wavelength of Ha a double-peaked structure appeared in the profile with a peak-to-peak separation of ∼ 1400 km s⁻¹, suggestive of an expanding shell or disc of gas. Using the available broadband photometric information, we also trace the evolution of the photosphere of SN1987a assuming that it radiates like a supergiant.     

Disentangling the Galaxy at low Galactic latitudes

We have used the field stars from the open cluster survey BOCCE (Bologna Open Clusters Chemical Evolution), to study three low-latitude fields imaged with the Canada–France–Hawaii telescope (CFHT), with the aim of better understanding the Galactic structure in those directions. Because of the deep and accurate photometry in these fields, they provide a powerful discriminant among Galactic structure models. In the present paper we discuss if a canonical star count model, expressed in terms of thin and thick disc radial scales, thick disc normalization and reddening distribution, can explain the observed colour–magnitude diagrams (CMDs). Disc and thick disc are described with double exponentials, the spheroid is represented with a De Vaucouleurs density law. In order to assess the fitting quality of a particular set of parameters, the colour distribution and luminosity function of synthetic photometry is compared to that of target stars selected from the blue sequence of the observed CMDs. Through a Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, we find that the classical decomposition halo-thin/thick disc is sufficient to reproduce the observations – no additional population is strictly necessary. In terms of solutions common to all three fields, we have found a thick disc scalelength that is equal to (or slightly longer than) the thin disc scale.     

A bar in the inner halo of barred galaxies – I. Structure and kinematics of a representative model

N -body simulations argue that the inner haloes of barred galaxies should not be spherical, nor even axisymmetric, but triaxial. The departure from sphericity is the strongest near the centre and decreases outwards; typical axial ratios for the innermost parts are of the order of 0.8. The halo shape is prolate-like in the inner parts up to a certain radius and then turns to oblate-like. I call this inner halo structure the 'halo bar' and analyse here in depth its structure and kinematics in a representative model. It is always considerably shorter than the disc bar. It lags the disc bar by only a few degrees at all radii and the difference between the two bar phases increases with distance from the centre. The two bars turn with roughly the same pattern speed. This means that the halo bar is a slow bar, since its corotation radius is much larger than its length. The bisymmetric component in the halo continues well outside the halo bar in the form of an open spiral, trailing behind the disc bar. The inner parts of the halo display some mean rotation in the same sense as the disc rotation. This is more important for particles nearer to the equatorial plane and decreases with increasing distance from it, but is always much smaller than the disc rotation.