On the formation of protostellar disks

Abstract

An analysis is presented of the hydrodynamic aspects of the growth of protostellar disks from the accretion (or collapse) of a rotating gas cloud. The size, mass, and radiative properties of protostellar disks are determined by the distribution of mass and angular momentum in the clouds from which they are formed, as well as from the dissipative processes within the disks themselves. The angular momentum of the infalling cloud is redistributed by the action of turbulent viscosity on a shear layer near the surface of the disk (downstream of the accretion shock) and on the radial shear across cylindrical surfaces parallel to the rotation axis. The fraction of gas that is fed into a central core (protostar) during accretion depends on the ratio of the rate of viscous diffusion of angular momentum to the accretion rate; rapid viscous diffusion (or a low accretion rate) promotes a large core-to-disk mass ratio. The continuum radiation spectrum of a highly viscous disk is similar to that of a steady-state accretion disk without mass addition. It is possible to construct models of the primitive solar nebula as an accretion disk, formed by the collapse of a slowly rotating protostellar cloud, and containing the minimum mass required to account for the planets. Other models with more massive disks are also possible.