Magnetospherically Mediated Accretion in Classical T Tauri Stars

Abstract

Observational evidence suggests that disk accretion in low mass stars is mediated by the stellar magnetosphere in the inner few stellar radii of a star/accretion disk system. A strong stellar field appears to disrupt the inner disk and channel accreting material in a funnel flow toward the stellar surface. It is possible that coupling between the stellar magnetosphere and the inner accretion disk plays a profound role in the evolution of a forming star, regulating its spin, establishing its initial angular momentum, and launching the ubiquitous accretion-driven outflows which are the subject of this symposium. Although the evidence that forming low mass stars undergo magnetospherically mediated accretion is considerable, there are a growing number of challenges to this paradigm which require close observational scrutiny.