Spiral-driven accretion in protoplanetary discs: I. 2D models

We numerically investigate the dynamics of a 2D non-magnetised protoplanetary disc surrounded by an inflow coming from an external envelope. We find that the accretion shock between the disc and the inflow is unstable, leading to the generation of large-amplitude spiral density waves. These spiral w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin) 2015-10, Vol.582, p.1-4
Main Authors: Lesur, Geoffroy, Hennebelle, Patrick, Fromang, Sebastien
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accretion
Accretion disks
Angular momentum
Astrophysics
Density
Inflow
Physics
Spirals
Transport
Two dimensional
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Summary:We numerically investigate the dynamics of a 2D non-magnetised protoplanetary disc surrounded by an inflow coming from an external envelope. We find that the accretion shock between the disc and the inflow is unstable, leading to the generation of large-amplitude spiral density waves. These spiral waves propagate over long distances, down to radii at least ten times smaller than the accretion shock radius. We measure spiral-driven outward angular momentum transport with 10 super(-4) [ ~] 10 super(-8) M sub([middot in circle]) yr super(-1). We conclude that the interaction of the disc with its envelope leads to long-lived spiral density waves and radial angular momentum transport with rates that cannot be neglected in young non-magnetised protostellar discs.
ISSN:0004-6361
1432-0746
1432-0756
DOI:10.1051/0004-6361/201526734