Accretion Phase Of Star Formation Research Articles

Ring Gap Structure around Class I Protostar WL 17

WL 17 is a Class I object and was considered to have a ring–hole structure. We analyzed the structure around WL 17 to investigate the detailed properties of this object. We used Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array archival data, which have a higher angular resolution than previous observations. We investigated the WL 17 system with the 1.3 mm dust continuum and 12CO and C18O (J = 2–1) line emissions. The dust continuum emission showed a clear ring structure with inner and outer edges of ∼11 and ∼21 au, respectively. In addition, we detected an inner disk of <5 au radius enclosing the central star within the ring, the first observation of this structure. Thus, WL 17 has a ring–gap structure, not a ring–hole structure. We did not detect any marked emission in either the gap or inner disk, indicating that there is no sign of a planet, circumplanetary disk, or binary companion. We identified the source of both blueshifted and redshifted outflows based on the 12CO emission, which is clearly associated with the disk around WL 17. The outflow mass ejection rate is ∼3.6 × 10−7 M ⊙ yr−1 and the dynamical timescale is as short as ∼104 yr. The C18O emission showed that an inhomogeneous infalling envelope, which can induce episodic mass accretion, is distributed in the region within ∼1000 au from the central protostar. With these new findings, we can constrain the scenarios of planet formation and dust growth in the accretion phase of star formation.

Different modes of star formation – II. Gas accretion phase of initially subcritical star-forming clouds

ABSTRACT The accretion phase of star formation is investigated in magnetically dominated clouds that have an initial subcritical mass-to-flux ratio. We employ non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic simulations that include ambipolar diffusion and ohmic dissipation. During the early prestellar phase, the mass-to-flux ratio rises towards the critical value for collapse, and during this time the angular momentum of the cloud core is reduced significantly by magnetic braking. Once a protostar is formed in the core, the accretion phase is characterized by the presence of a small amount of angular momentum but a large amount of magnetic flux in the near-protostellar environment. The low angular momentum leads to a very small (or even non-existent) disc and weak outflow, while the large magnetic flux can lead to an interchange instability that rapidly removes flux from the central region. The effective magnetic braking in the early collapse phase can even lead to a counterrotating disc and outflow, in which the rotation direction of the disc and outflow is opposite to that of the infalling envelope. The solutions with a counterrotating disc, tiny disc, or non-existent disc (direct collapse) are unique outcomes that are realized in collapse from magnetically dominated clouds with an initial subcritical mass-to-flux ratio.

Disc formation in magnetized dense cores with turbulence and ambipolar diffusion

ABSTRACT Discs are essential to the formation of both stars and planets, but how they form in magnetized molecular cloud cores remains debated. This work focuses on how the disc formation is affected by turbulence and ambipolar diffusion (AD), both separately and in combination, with an emphasis on the protostellar mass accretion phase of star formation. We find that a relatively strong, sonic turbulence on the core scale strongly warps but does not completely disrupt the well-known magnetically induced flattened pseudo-disc that dominates the inner protostellar accretion flow in the laminar case, in agreement with previous work. The turbulence enables the formation of a relatively large disc at early times with or without AD, but such a disc remains strongly magnetized and does not persist to the end of our simulation unless a relatively strong AD is also present. The AD-enabled discs in laminar simulations tend to fragment gravitationally. The disc fragmentation is suppressed by initial turbulence. The AD facilitates the disc formation and survival by reducing the field strength in the circumstellar region through magnetic flux redistribution and by making the field lines there less pinched azimuthally, especially at late times. We conclude that turbulence and AD complement each other in promoting disc formation. The discs formed in our simulations inherit a rather strong magnetic field from its parental core, with a typical plasma-β of order a few tens or smaller, which is 2–3 orders of magnitude lower than the values commonly adopted in magnetohydrodynamic simulations of protoplanetary discs. To resolve this potential tension, longer term simulations of disc formation and evolution with increasingly more realistic physics are needed.

Accretion phase of star formation in clouds with different metallicities

The main accretion phase of star formation is investigated in clouds with different metallicities in the range of 0 \le Z \le Z_\odot, resolving the protostellar radius. Starting from a near-equilibrium prestellar cloud, we calculate the cloud evolution up to \sim100 yr after the first protostar formation. The star formation process considerably differs between clouds with lower (Z \le 10^-4 Z_\odot) and higher (Z > 10^-4 Z_\odot) metallicities. Fragmentation frequently occurs and many protostars appear without forming a stable circumstellar disc in lower-metallicity clouds. In these clouds, although protostars mutually interact and some are ejected from the cloud centre, many remain as a small stellar cluster. In contrast, higher-metallicity clouds produce a single protostar surrounded by a nearly stable rotation-supported disc. In these clouds, although fragmentation occasionally occurs in the disc, the fragments migrate inwards and finally fall onto the central protostar. The difference in cloud evolution is due to different thermal evolutions and mass accretion rates. The thermal evolution of the cloud determines the emergence and lifetime of the first core. The first core develops prior to the protostar formation in higher-metallicity clouds, whereas no (obvious) first core appears in lower-metallicity clouds. The first core evolves into a circumstellar disc with a spiral pattern, which effectively transfers the angular momentum outwards and suppresses frequent fragmentation. In lower-metallicity clouds, the higher mass accretion rate increases the disc surface density within a very short time, rendering the disc unstable to self-gravity and inducing vigorous fragmentation.

MAGNETIC FLUX EXPULSION IN STAR FORMATION

Stars form in dense cores of magnetized molecular clouds. If the magnetic flux threading the cores is dragged into the stars, the stellar field would be orders of magnitude stronger than observed. This well-known "magnetic flux problem" demands that most of the core magnetic flux be decoupled from the matter that enters the star. We carry out the first exploration of what happens to the decoupled magnetic flux in 3D, using an MHD version of the ENZO adaptive mesh refinement code. The field-matter decoupling is achieved through a sink particle treatment, which is needed to follow the protostellar accretion phase of star formation. We find that the accumulation of the decoupled flux near the accreting protostar leads to a magnetic pressure buildup. The high pressure is released anisotropically, along the path of least resistance. It drives a low-density expanding region in which the decoupled magnetic flux is expelled. This decoupling-enabled magnetic structure has never been seen before in 3D MHD simulations of star formation. It generates a strong asymmetry in the protostellar accretion flow, potentially giving a kick to the star. In the presence of an initial core rotation, the structure presents an obstacle to the formation of a rotationally supported disk, in addition to magnetic braking, by acting as a rigid magnetic wall that prevents the rotating gas from completing a full orbit around the central object. We conclude that the decoupled magnetic flux from the stellar matter can strongly affect the protostellar collapse dynamics.

MAGNETIC BRAKING AND PROTOSTELLAR DISK FORMATION: AMBIPOLAR DIFFUSION

It is established that the formation of rotationally supported disks during the main accretion phase of star formation is suppressed by a moderately strong magnetic field in the ideal MHD limit. Nonideal MHD effects are expected to weaken the magnetic braking, perhaps allowing the disk to reappear. We concentrate on one such effect, ambipolar diffusion, which enables the field lines to slip relative to the bulk neutral matter. We find that the slippage does not sufficiently weaken the braking to allow rotationally supported disks to form for realistic levels of cloud magnetization and cosmic ray ionization rate; in some cases, the magnetic braking is even enhanced. Only in dense cores with both exceptionally weak fields and unreasonably low ionization rate do such disks start to form in our simulations. We conclude that additional processes, such as Ohmic dissipation or Hall effect, are needed to enable disk formation. Alternatively, the disk may form at late times when the massive envelope that anchors the magnetic brake is dissipated, perhaps by a protostellar wind.

Magnetic Braking and Protostellar Disk Formation: The Ideal MHD Limit

Magnetic fields are usually considered dynamically important in star formation when the dimensionless mass-to-flux ratio is close to, or less than, unity (λ ≲ 1). We show that, in disk formation, the requirement is far less stringent. This conclusion is drawn from a set of 2D (axisymmetric) simulations of the collapse of rotating, singular isothermal cores magnetized to different degrees. We find that a weak field corresponding to λ ∼ 100 can begin to disrupt the rotationally supported disk through magnetic braking, by creating regions of rapid, supersonic collapse in the disk. These regions are separated by one or more centrifugal barriers, where the rapid infall is temporarily halted. The number of centrifugal barriers increases with the mass-to-flux ratio λ. When λ ≳ 100, they merge together to form a more or less contiguous, rotationally supported disk. Even though the magnetic field in such a case is extremely weak on the scale of dense cores, it is amplified by collapse and differential rotation, to the extent that its pressure dominates the thermal pressure in both the disk and its surrounding region. For relatively strongly magnetized cores with λ ≲ 10, the disk formation is suppressed completely, as found previously. A new feature is that the mass accretion is highly episodic, due to reconnection of the magnetic field lines accumulated near the center. For rotationally supported disks to appear during the protostellar mass accretion phase of star formation in dense cores with realistic field strengths, the powerful magnetic brake must be weakened, perhaps through nonideal MHD effects. Another possibility is to remove, through protostellar winds, the material that acts to brake the disk rotation. We discuss the possibility of observing a generic product of the magnetic braking, an extended circumstellar region that is supported by a combination of toroidal magnetic field and rotation—a "magnetogyrosphere"—interferometrically.

Hydromagnetic Accretion Shocks around Low-Mass Protostars

view Abstract Citations (75) References (43) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Hydromagnetic Accretion Shocks around Low-Mass Protostars Li, Zhi-Yun ; McKee, Christopher F. Abstract We present theoretical arguments for the existence of an accretion shock driven by magnetic fields around low-mass protostars. Our analysis is based on the current theory for low-mass stars formed in isolation. In this theory, the magnetic field is trapped by the freely falling accreting matter until the density is high enough for matter and field to decouple from each other. We propose that the decoupled magnetic field diffuses outward as more and more flux is brought in by accreting matter, driving a hydromagnetic shock wave away from the central protostar. The radius of the shock is typically on the order of a few thousand AU near the end of the main protostellar accretion phase around solar mass stars. We also suggest that the accreting material behind the shock is turbulent; otherwise, the magnetic field in the postshock region could almost support the accreting matter against gravity, a situation prone to interchange-type instabilities. We identify the postshock region with the 103 AU size flattened structure around HL Tauri, and predict that the magnetic field strength there is on the order of 1 mG. If confirmed by observations, the shock and its associated structure will lend strong support to the current paradigm for low-mass star formation in isolation invoking gradual loss of magnetic support of precollapsing molecular clouds. Our analytic treatment of the problem provides a guide for future numerical simulations of the main accretion phase of star formation including magnetic field. Its implication for the so-called magnetic flux problem is also discussed. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: June 1996 DOI: 10.1086/177329 Bibcode: 1996ApJ...464..373L Keywords: ACCRETION; ACCRETION DISKS; MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS: MHD; SHOCK WAVES; STARS: PRE-MAIN-SEQUENCE full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (2)