Ohmic Diffusion Research Articles

The minimum rotation period of millisecond pulsars

ABSTRACT A simple and natural explanation for the minimum period of millisecond pulsars follows from a correlation between the accretion rate and the frozen surface dipole magnetic field resulting from ohmic diffusion through the neutron star crust in initial stages of accretion in low-mass X-ray binaries.

Systematic description of wind-driven protoplanetary discs

Aims. Planet-forming discs are believed to be very weakly turbulent in the regions outside of 1 AU. For this reason, it is now believed that magnetised winds could be the dominant mechanism driving accretion in these systems. However, currently, no self-consistent approach can describe discs that are subject to a magnetised wind in a way similar to the α disc model. In this article, I explore the parameter space of wind-driven protoplanetary discs in a systematic manner and present scaling laws that can be used in reduced models in a similar way to α disc models. Methods. I computed a series of self-similar wind solutions, assuming that the disc is dominated by ambipolar and Ohmic diffusion. These solution were obtained by searching for stationary solutions in the finite-volume code PLUTO using a relaxation method and continuation. Results. Self-similar solutions are obtained for values of plasma β ranging from 102 to 108 for several Ohmic and ambipolar diffusion strengths. Mass accretion rates of about 10−8 M⊙ yr−1 are obtained for the poloidal field strength β = O(104) or equivalently, 1 mG at 10 AU. In addition, the ejection efficiency is always close to 1, implying that wind mass-loss rate can be higher than the inner mass accretion rate when the wind-emitting region is large. The resulting magnetic lever arms are typically lower than 2, possibly reaching 1.5 in the weakest field cases. Remarkably, the mean transport properties (accretion rate and mass-loss rate) mostly depend on the field strength and much less on the disc diffusivities or surface density. The disc internal structure is nevertheless strongly affected by Ohmic resistivity, strongly resistive discs being subject to accretion at the surface while ambipolar only models lead to mid-plane accretion. Finally, I provide a complete set of scaling laws and semi-analytical wind solutions, which can be used to fit and interpret observations. Conclusions. Magnetised winds are unavoidable in protoplanetary discs as soon as they are embedded in an ambient poloidal magnetic field. Very detailed disc microphysics are not always needed to describe them, and simplified models such as self-similar solutions can capture most of the physics seen in full 3D simulations. The remaining difficulty to set up a complete theory of wind-driven accretion lies in the transport of the large-scale field, which remains poorly constrained and is not well understood.

Effects of Fe Impurities on Self-Discharge Performance of Carbon-Based Supercapacitors.

Activated carbon is widely used as an electrode material in supercapacitors due to its superior electrochemical stability, excellent electrical conductivity, and environmental friendliness. In this study, the self-discharge mechanisms of activated carbon electrodes loaded with different contents of Fe impurities (Fe and Fe3O4) were analyzed by multi-stage fitting to explore the tunability of self-discharge. It is was found that a small quantity of Fe impurities on carbon materials improves the self-discharge performance dominated by redox reaction, by adjusting the surface state and pore structure of carbon materials. As the content of Fe impurities increases, the voltage loss of activated carbon with the Fe impurity concentrations of 1.12 wt.% (AF-1.12) decreases by 37.9% of the original, which is attributable to the reduce of ohmic leakage and diffusion, and the increase in Faradic redox at the electrode/electrolyte interface. In summary, self-discharge performance of carbon-based supercapacitors can be adjusted via the surface state and pour structure, which provides insights for the future design of energy storage.

Resonances in a Coronal Loop Driven by Torsional Alfvén Waves Propagating from the Photosphere

Abstract There is increasing evidence that magnetohydrodynamic waves play an important role in the propagation and dissipation of energy in the solar atmosphere. Here we investigate how torsional Alfvén waves driven at the photosphere can transport energy to an overlying coronal magnetic loop and explore their ability to heat the plasma. We consider a coronal loop whose feet are embedded in the partially ionized chromosphere. A broadband driver at the photosphere excites torsional Alfvén waves that propagate upward to the coronal loop. By means of numerical computations under the stationary-state assumption, we study the transmission of wave energy to the loop and the heating associated with ohmic diffusion and ion–neutral collisions. We find that wave transmission to the loop is heavily affected by the presence of cavity resonances when the frequency of the driver matches an eigenfrequency of the loop. A tremendous amount of wave energy is channeled to the coronal loop for those particular frequencies. The transmitted energy surpasses by many orders of magnitude the requirements to balance thermal radiation. However, dissipation is so weak in the coronal plasma that only a tiny percentage of the energy budget is converted into heat, which is not enough to compensate for radiative losses. Most of the energy simply leaks back to the chromosphere. Conversely, dissipation is much more efficient in the lower atmosphere, and wave heating can locally balance a significant fraction of radiation in the chromosphere. We argue that nonlinear effects such as turbulence triggered by the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability should enhance the heating efficiency at coronal heights.

Simulating the Coronal Evolution of Bipolar Active Regions to Investigate the Formation of Flux Ropes

The coronal magnetic field evolution of 20 bipolar active regions (ARs) is simulated from their emergence to decay using the time-dependent nonlinear force-free field method of Mackay, Green, and van Ballegooijen (Astrophys. J. 729, 97, 2011). A time sequence of cleaned photospheric line-of-sight magnetograms, which covers the entire evolution of each AR, is used to drive the simulation. A comparison of the simulated coronal magnetic field with the 171 and 193 Å observations obtained by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), is made for each AR by manual inspection. The results show that it is possible to reproduce the evolution of the main coronal features such as small- and large-scale coronal loops, filaments and sheared structures for 80% of the ARs. Varying the boundary and initial conditions, along with the addition of physical effects such as Ohmic diffusion, hyperdiffusion and a horizontal magnetic field injection at the photosphere, improves the match between the observations and simulated coronal evolution by 20%. The simulations were able to reproduce the build-up to eruption for 50% of the observed eruptions associated with the ARs. The mean unsigned time difference between the eruptions occurring in the observations compared to the time of eruption onset in the simulations was found to be ≈5 hrs. The simulations were particularly successful in capturing the build-up to eruption for all four eruptions that originated from the internal polarity inversion line of the ARs. The technique was less successful in reproducing the onset of eruptions that originated from the periphery of ARs and large-scale coronal structures. For these cases global, rather than local, nonlinear force-free field models must be used. While the technique has shown some success, eruptions that occur in quick succession are difficult to reproduce by this method and future iterations of the model need to address this.

Protostellar Collapse: Regulation of the Angular Momentum and Onset of an Ionic Precursor

Abstract Through the magnetic braking and the launching of protostellar outflows, magnetic fields play a major role in the regulation of angular momentum in star formation, which directly impacts the formation and evolution of protoplanetary disks and binary systems. The aim of this paper is to quantify those phenomena in the presence of nonideal magnetohydrodynamics effects, namely, the ohmic and ambipolar diffusion. We perform three-dimensional simulations of protostellar collapses varying the mass of the prestellar dense core, the thermal support (the α ratio), and the dust grain size distribution. The mass mostly influences the magnetic braking in the pseudo-disk, while the thermal support impacts the accretion rate and hence the properties of the disk. Removing the grains smaller than 0.1 μm in the Mathis–Rumpl–Nordsieck distribution enhances the ambipolar diffusion coefficient. Similar to previous studies, we find that this change in the distribution reduces the magnetic braking with an impact on the disk. The outflow is also significantly weakened. In either case, the magnetic braking largely dominates the outflow as a process to remove the angular momentum from the disk. Finally, we report a large ionic precursor to the outflow with velocities of several km s−1, which may be observable.

Heat and Mass Transfer Analysis of Nanofluid Flow Based on Cu, Al2O3, and TiO2 over a Moving Rotating Plate and Impact of Various Nanoparticle Shapes

The study of rotating nanofluid flows has a vital role in several applications such as in food processing, rotating machinery, cooling systems, and chemical fluid. The aims of the present work are to improve the thermophysical properties of convective flow and heat transfer for unsteady nanofluid past a moving rotating plate in the presence of ohmic, viscous dissipations, Brownian, and thermophoresis diffusion. The system is strained under the effect of strong magnetic field, and then the Hall current is considered. For this investigation, three different types of the nanoparticles Cu (copper), Al2O3 (aluminium oxide), and TiO2 (titanium dioxide) with various shapes (spherical, cylindrical, and brick) are considered, and water is used as a base nanofluid. The system governing equations are solved semianalytically using homotopy perturbation technique. In order to validate the present work, different comparisons are made under some special cases with previously published results and found an excellent agreement. It is observed that the shape of nanoparticles plays a substantial role to significantly determine the flow behaviour. Also, it can be found that the use of the cylindrical nanoparticle shape has better improvement for heat transfer rate compared with the other nanoparticle shapes.

On the Resistances of a Slurry Electrode Vanadium Redox Flow Battery.

We studied the half‐cell performance of a slurry‐based vanadium redox flow battery via the polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy methods. First, the conductive static mixers are examined and lower ohmic and diffusion resistances are shown. Further analyses of the slurry electrodes for the catholyte (VO2+−VO2 +) and anolyte (V3+−V2+) are presented for the graphite powder slurry containing up to 15.0 wt.% particle content. Overall, the anolyte persists as the more resistive half‐cell, while ohmic and diffusion‐related limitations are the dominating resistances for both electrolytes. The battery is further improved by the addition of Ketjen black nanoparticles, which results in lower cell resistances. The best results are achieved when 0.5 wt.% Ketjen black nanoparticles are dispersed with graphite powder since the addition of nanoparticles reduces ohmic, charge transfer and mass diffusion resistances by improving particle‐particle dynamics. The results prove the importance of understanding resistances in a slurry electrode system.

Enhancement of Electrochemical Properties of Lithium Rich Li2RuO3 Cathode Material

Lithium-rich layered Ru-based oxides are interesting cathode materials due to their high energy density and reversible capacity. However, their poor structural stability and voltage decay hinder their broad commercial applicability. To address this, we investigate the co-doping strategy on Li2RuO3 (LRO) for improved battery performance using a combination of quantum mechanics, molecular dynamics, and pseudo-1-dimensional (P1D) formulations. Specifically, in addition to the effect of Ti as a dopant in Li2Ru0.5Ti0.5O3 (LTO), the effect of three co-dopants, Tc, Rh, or Pd in Li2Ru0.5Ti0.25M0.25O3 has also been studied. It has been found that the co-doping strategy significantly improves the thermal stability of LRO. Tc and Ti improve structural stability by reducing the oxygen removal reaction. Pd and Tc reduce the bandgap considerably, leading to higher electrical conductivity. The results show that co-doping minimizes the energy required for Li-ions diffusion. In particular, Tc significantly enhances the Li-ions diffusion in LRO and LTO. Further co-dopants Rh, Pd, and Tc improve the maximum voltage of LRO, as well as the voltage stability by reducing the voltage reduction. Finally, P1D simulations show that while LTO provides the highest voltage and power operation, doping it with Tc and Pd increases its efficiency by reducing the ohmic potential drop and diffusion polarization.

Global axisymmetric simulations of photoevaporation and magnetically driven protoplanetary disk winds

Context. Photoevaporation and magnetically driven winds are two independent mechanisms that remove mass from protoplanetary disks. In addition to accretion, the effect of these two principles acting concurrently could be significant, and the transition between them has not yet been extensively studied and quantified. Aims. In order to contribute to the understanding of disk winds, we present the phenomena emerging in the framework of two-dimensional axisymmetric, nonideal magnetohydrodynamic simulations including extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray driven photoevaporation. Of particular interest are the examination of the transition region between photoevaporation and magnetically driven wind, the possibility of emerging magnetocentrifugal wind effects, and the morphology of the wind itself, which depends on the strength of the magnetic field. Methods. We used the PLUTO code in a two-dimensional axisymmetric configuration with additional treatment of EUV and X-ray heating and dynamic ohmic diffusion based on a semi-analytical chemical model. Results. We determine that the transition between the two outflow types occurs for values of the initial plasma beta β ≥ 107, while magnetically driven winds generally outperform photoevaporation for stronger fields. In our simulations we observe irregular and asymmetric outflows for stronger magnetic fields. In the weak-field regime, the photoevaporation rates are slightly lowered by perturbations of the gas density in the inner regions of the disk. Overall, our results predict a wind with a lever arm smaller than 1.5, consistent with a hot magnetothermal wind. Stronger accretion flows are present for values of β < 107.

Radiation thermo-chemical models of protoplanetary disks

Context. Disks around pre-main-sequence stars evolve over time by turbulent viscous spreading. The main contender to explain the strength of the turbulence is the magnetorotational instability model, whose efficiency depends on the disk ionization fraction. Aims. Our aim is to compute self-consistently the chemistry including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) charge chemistry, the grain charging, and an estimate of an effective value of the turbulence α parameter in order to find observational signatures of disk turbulence. Methods. We introduced PAH and grain charging physics and their interplay with other gas-phase reactions in the physico-chemical code PRODIMO. Non-ideal magnetohydrodynamics effects such as ohmic and ambipolar diffusion are parametrized to derive an effective value for the turbulent parameter αeff. We explored the effects of turbulence heating and line broadening on CO isotopologue submillimeter lines. Results. The spatial distribution of αeff depends on various unconstrained disk parameters such as the magnetic parameter βmag or the cosmic ray density distribution inside the protoplanetary disk s. The inner disk midplane shows the presence of the so-called dead zone where the turbulence is almost inexistent. The disk is heated mostly by thermal accommodation on dust grains in the dead zone, by viscous heating outside the dead zone up to a few hundred astronomical units, and by chemical heating in the outer disk. The CO rotational lines probe the warm molecular disk layers where the turbulence is at its maximum. However, the effect of turbulence on the CO line profiles is minimal and difficult to distinguish from the thermal broadening. Conclusions. Viscous heating of the gas in the disk midplane outside the dead zone is efficient. The determination of α from CO rotational line observations alone is challenging.

Numerical Methods for Simulating Star Formation

We review the numerical techniques for ideal and non-ideal magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD) used in the context of star formation simulations. We outline the specific challenges offered by modelling star forming environments, which are dominated by supersonic turbulence in a radiative, self-gravitating fluid. These conditions are rather unique in physics and engineering and pose particularly severe restrictions on the robustness and accuracy of numerical codes. One striking aspect is the formation of collapsing fluid elements leading to the formation of singularities that represent point-like objects, namely the proto-stars. Although a few studies have attempted to resolve the formation of the first and second Larson's cores, resolution limitations force us to use sink particle techniques, with sub-grid models to compute the accretion rates of mass, momentum and energy, as well as their ejection rate due to radiation and jets from the proto-stars. We discuss the most popular discretisation techniques used in the community, namely smoothed particle hydrodynamics, finite difference and finite volume methods, stressing the importance to maintain a divergence free magnetic field. We discuss how to estimate the truncation error of a given numerical scheme, and its importance in setting the magnitude of the numerical diffusion. This can have a strong impact on the outcome of these simulations, where viscosity and resistivity are implemented at the grid scale. We then present various numerical techniques to model non-ideal MHD effects (Ohmic and ambipolar diffusion, and Hall effect). These physical ingredients are posing strong challenges in term of resolution and time stepping. For the latter, several strategies are discussed to overcome the limitations due to ridiculously small time steps. An important aspect of star formation simulations is the radiation field. We discuss the current state-of-the-art, with a variety of techniques offering pros and cons in different conditions. Finally, we present more advanced strategies to mitigate the adverse effect of finite numerical resolution, which are very popular in the context of supersonic, self-gravitating fluids, namely adaptive mesh refinement, moving meshes, SPH and high-order methods. Advances in these directions are likely to trigger immense progresses in the future of our field.

The Generalized Nonlinear Ohm's Law: How a Strong Electric Field Influences Nonideal MHD Effects in Dusty Protoplanetary Disks

Abstract The magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) of protoplanetary disks are strongly subject to the nonideal MHD effects arising from the low ionization fraction of the disk gas. A strong electric field induced by gas motions can heat ionized gas particles and can thereby affect the ionization balance in the disks. Our previous studies revealed that in dusty protoplanetary disks, the ohmic conductivity decreases with increasing electric field strength until the electrical breakdown of the disk gas occurs. In this study, we extend our previous work to more general cases where both electric and magnetic fields affect the motion of plasma particles, allowing us to study the impacts of plasma heating on all nonideal MHD effects: ohmic, Hall, and ambipolar diffusion. We find that the upper limit on the electric current we previously derived applies even in the presence of magnetic fields. Although the Hall and ambipolar resistivities can either increase or decrease with electric field strength depending on the abundance of charged dust grains, the ohmic resistivity always increases with electric field strength. An order-of-magnitude estimate suggests that a large-scale electric current generated by gas motions in the inner part of protoplanetary disks could exceed the upper limit. This implies that MHD motions of the inner disk, such as the motion driven by the Hall-shear instability, could either get suppressed or trigger electrical breakdown (lightning discharge). This may have important implications for gas accretion and chondrule formation in the inner part of protoplanetary disks.

Pore Morphology Effects of Liquid/Gas Diffusion Layers in Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzer Cells

Hydrogen is now considered the most preferred medium for storing energyout of renewable, intermittent power sources because of its great advantages such as high energy density, low weight, environmental friendliness, etc. Water electrolysis is the most accessible hydrogen production method. Proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis is attracting much attention with its high efficiency. In a PEM electrolyzer cell (PEMEC), liquid/gas diffusion layers (LGDLs) are porous layers whose main functions are conducting electrons and heat and transporting reactants/products to and from the reaction sites. To achieve high efficiency, a PEMEC demands LGDLs with minimum intrinsic ohmic, thermal, and mass diffusion losses and also low interfacial contact resistances with other components. Thus, the morphologies and surface properties of LGDLs can greatly affect the cell performance. In this research, anode LGDLs featuring pore sizes of approximately ten microns are fabricated by pulsed-laser micromachining (PLM). The effects of pore morphologies, including porosities and pore sizes, are characterized comprehensively ex-situ and in-situ. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis is also carried out to investigate the impact of LGDL pore morphologies on the PEMEC performance. Results from this research can help the community better understand the relationship between LGDL morphology and PEMEC performance. A prediction of the performance at the design stage should also be available based on the morphology of an anode LGDL. Furthermore, an optimal design for anode LGDLs may be acquired.

Influence of Ohmic and ambipolar heating on the thermal structure of accretion discs

We investigate dynamics of accretion discs of young stars with fossil large-scale magnetic field. Our magneto-gas-dynamic (MHD) model of the accretion discs includes equations of Shakura and Sunyaev, induction equation, equations of thermal and collisional ionization. Induction equation takes into account Ohmic and magnetic ambipolar diffusion, magnetic buoyancy. We also consider the influence of Ohmic and ambipolar heating on thermal structure of the accretion discs. We analyse the influence of considered dissipative MHD effects on the temperature of the accretion discs around classical T Tauri star. The simulations show that Ohmic and ambipolar heating operate near the borders of the region with low ionization fraction (`dead' zone). Temperature grows by $\sim 1000$ K near the inner boundary of the `dead' zone, $r\approx (0.5-1)$ au, and by $\sim 100$ K near its outer boundary, $r\approx (30-50)$ au.

Temperature Structure in the Inner Regions of Protoplanetary Disks: Inefficient Accretion Heating Controlled by Nonideal Magnetohydrodynamics

Abstract The gas temperature in protoplanetary disks (PPDs) is determined by a combination of irradiation heating and accretion heating, with the latter conventionally attributed to turbulent dissipation. However, recent studies have suggested that the inner disk (a few au) is largely laminar, with accretion primarily driven by magnetized disk winds, as a result of nonideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects from weakly ionized gas, suggesting an alternative heating mechanism by Joule dissipation. We perform local stratified MHD simulations including all three nonideal MHD effects (ohmic, Hall, and ambipolar diffusion) and investigate the role of Joule heating and the resulting disk vertical temperature profiles. We find that in the inner disk, as ohmic and ambipolar diffusion strongly suppress electrical current around the midplane, Joule heating primarily occurs at several scale heights above the midplane, making the midplane temperature much lower than that with the conventional viscous heating model. Including the Hall effect, Joule heating is enhanced/reduced when the magnetic fields threading the disks are aligned/anti-aligned with the disk rotation, but it is overall ineffective. Our results further suggest that the midplane temperature in the inner PPDs is almost entirely determined by irradiation heating, unless viscous heating can trigger thermal ionization in the disk innermost region to self-sustain magnetorotational instability turbulence.

Energy Transport and Heating by Torsional Alfvén Waves Propagating from the Photosphere to the Corona in the Quiet Sun

Abstract In the solar atmosphere, Alfvén waves are believed to play an important role in the transfer of energy from the photosphere to the corona and solar wind, and in the heating of the chromosphere. We perform numerical computations to investigate the energy transport and dissipation associated with torsional Alfvén waves propagating in magnetic flux tubes that expand from the photosphere to the corona in quiet-Sun conditions. We place a broadband driver at the photosphere that injects a wave energy flux of 107 erg cm−2 s−1 and consider Ohm’s magnetic diffusion and ion–neutral collisions as dissipation mechanisms. We find that only a small fraction of the driven flux, ∼105 erg cm−2 s−1, is able to reach coronal heights, but it may be sufficient to partly compensate the total coronal energy loss. The frequency of maximal transmittance is ∼5 mHz for a photospheric field strength of 1 kG and is shifted to smaller/larger frequencies for weaker/stronger fields. Lower frequencies are reflected at the transition region, while higher frequencies are dissipated, producing enough heat to balance chromospheric radiative losses. Heating in the low and middle chromosphere is due to Ohmic dissipation, while ion–neutral friction dominates in the high chromosphere. Ohmic diffusion is enhanced by phase mixing because of the expansion of the magnetic field. This effect has the important consequence of increasing the chromospheric dissipation and, therefore, reducing the energy flux that reaches the corona. We provide empirical fits of the transmission coefficient that could be used as input for coronal models.

Quasi-Isothermal External Short Circuit Tests Applied to Lithium-Ion Cells: Part II. Modeling and Simulation

Measurement data gained from quasi-isothermal external short circuit tests on single-layered pouch-type Li-ion cells presented in the first part of this combined work was used to validate a well-known homogenized physical-chemical model for different electrode loadings, cell temperatures, initial cell voltages, and external short circuit resistances. Accounting for diffusion-limited reaction kinetics, effective solid phase diffusion coefficients, and one representative active material particle size within each electrode, the model is capable of describing the experimentally observed characteristic change in magnitudes of current and heat generation rate throughout the short circuit. Underlying mechanisms for the observed characteristics are studied by evaluating the predicted concentration distribution across the electrodes and separator and by calculating the cell polarization due to ohmic losses, diffusion processes, and reaction kinetics. The importance of mass transport in the solid and liquid phase limiting reaction kinetics is discussed and evaluated in the context of a sensitivity analysis. Concentration dependent transport properties, electrode tortuosity, particle size, and electrode energy density are affecting different stages of a short circuit. Simulation results suggest a strong impact of electrode design on the short circuit dynamics allowing for an optimization regarding a cell’s energy and power characteristics whilst guaranteeing a high short circuit tolerance.

Does Misalignment between Magnetic Field and Angular Momentum Enhance or Suppress Circumstellar Disk Formation?

Abstract The effect of misalignment between the magnetic field and the angular momentum of molecular cloud cores on the angular momentum evolution during the gravitational collapse is investigated by ideal and non-ideal MHD simulations. For the non-ideal effect, we consider the ohmic and ambipolar diffusion. Previous studies that considered the misalignment reported qualitatively contradicting results. Magnetic braking was reported as being either strengthened or weakened by misalignment in different studies. We conducted simulations of cloud core collapse by varying the stability parameter α (the ratio of the thermal to gravitational energy of the core) with and without including magnetic diffusion. The non-ideal MHD simulations show the central angular momentum of the core, with θ = 0° ( ) being always greater than that with θ = 90° ( ), independently of α, meaning that circumstellar disks form more easily in a core with θ = 0°. The ideal MHD simulations, in contrast, show the central angular momentum of the core with θ = 90° being greater than with θ = 0° for small α and smaller for large α. Inspection of the angular momentum evolution of the fluid elements reveals three mechanisms contributing to the evolution of the angular momentum: (i) magnetic braking in the isothermal collapse phase, (ii) selective accretion of the rapidly (for θ = 90°) or slowly (for θ = 0°) rotating fluid elements to the central region, and (iii) magnetic braking in the first core and the disk. The difference between the ideal and non-ideal simulations arises from the different efficiencies of (iii).

The impact of non-ideal effects on the circumstellar disk evolution and their observational signatures

AbstractIt has been recognized that non-ideal MHD effects (Ohmic diffusion, Hall effect, ambipolar diffusion) play crucial roles for the circumstellar disk formation and evolution. Ohmic and ambipolar diffusion decouple the gas and the magnetic field, and significantly reduces the magnetic torque in the disk, which enables the formation of the circumstellar disk (e.g., Tsukamoto et al. 2015b). They set an upper limit to the magnetic field strength of ∼ 0.1 G around the disk (Masson et al. 2016). The Hall effect notably changes the magnetic torques in the envelope around the disk, and strengthens or weakens the magnetic braking depending on the relative orientation of magnetic field and angular momentum. This suggests that the bimodal evolution of the disk size possibly occurs in the early disk evolutionary phase (Tsukamoto et al. 2015a, Tsukamoto et al. 2017). Hall effect and ambipolar diffusion imprint the possibly observable characteristic velocity structures in the envelope of Class 0/I YSOs. Hall effect forms a counter-rotating envelope around the disk. Our simulations show that counter rotating envelope has the size of 100–1000 au and a recent observation actually infers such a structure (Takakuwaet al. 2018). Ambipolar diffusion causes the significant ion-neutral drift in the envelopes. Our simulations show that the drift velocity of ion could become 100-1000 ms–1.