MHD Turbulence and Transport in Accretion Disks
Jim Stone
Princeton University
In most astrophysical accretion disks, angular momentum transport
and accretion is thought to be mediated by MHD turbulence driven by
the magnetorotational instability (MRI). A number of recent numerical
MHD studies of the MRI will be described, including new studies that
investigate what determines the saturation amplitude (and therefore the
mass accretion rate) in disks. I will show that anisotropic viscosity
and thermal conduction in very diffuse accretion flows (such as around
the black hole at the galactic center) has a significant effect on the
MRI and turbulence in the disk: for example, it keeps the electron to ion
temperature ratio close to one, which has important implications for the
emssion properties of low-luminosity accretion flows.
Date: | Mardi, le 26 janvier 2010 |
Heure: | 16:00 |
Lieu: | Université McGill |
| Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, R.E. Bell Conference Room (room 103) |
Contact: | Robert Rutledge |
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