Angular Momentum Removal Research Articles

Galactic nuclear off-centerings: the innermost accretion mechanism?

AbstractIn the current scenario of galaxy evolution, supermassive black holes (SMBH) are present in almost all galaxies. To trigger nuclear activity, large amounts of material have to fall from kpc to pc and even smaller scales. Hence, an efficient angular momentum removal mechanism is needed. A growing black hole could still not be fixed in the gravitational potential well of the galaxy. This can be observed as a break in the symmetry between the global structure of the galaxy and the central source and could be part of the mechanism that drives material from the last hundred parsecs onto accretion in the SMBH. We present spatial profile decomposition of 16 galaxies observed with GNIRS (Gemini North) in the Klong band. We have been able to measure off-centerings in 3 of 16 galaxies. We found a possible correlation between the presence of an off-centering and the SMBH mass.

Related Progenitor Models for Long-duration Gamma-Ray Bursts and Type Ic Superluminous Supernovae

Abstract We model the late evolution and mass loss history of rapidly rotating Wolf–Rayet stars in the mass range 5 M ⊙…100 M ⊙). We find that quasi-chemically homogeneously evolving single stars computed with enhanced mixing retain very little or no helium and are compatible with Type Ic supernovae. The more efficient removal of core angular momentum and the expected smaller compact object mass in our lower-mass models lead to core spins in the range suggested for magnetar-driven superluminous supernovae. Our higher-mass models retain larger specific core angular momenta, expected for long-duration gamma-ray bursts in the collapsar scenario. Due to the absence of a significant He envelope, the rapidly increasing neutrino emission after core helium exhaustion leads to an accelerated contraction of the whole star, inducing a strong spin-up and centrifugally driven mass loss at rates of up to in the last years to decades before core collapse. Because the angular momentum transport in our lower-mass models enhances the envelope spin-up, they show the largest relative amounts of centrifugally enforced mass loss, i.e., up to 25% of the expected ejecta mass. Our most massive models evolve into the pulsational pair-instability regime. We would thus expect signatures of interaction with a C/O-rich circumstellar medium for Type Ic superluminous supernovae with ejecta masses below ∼10 M ⊙ as well as for the most massive engine-driven explosions with ejecta masses above ∼30 M ⊙. Signs of such interaction should be observable at early epochs of the supernova explosion; they may be related to bumps observed in the light curves of superluminous supernovae, or to the massive circumstellar CO-shell proposed for Type Ic superluminous supernova Gaia16apd.

Role of primordial black holes in the direct collapse scenario of supermassive black hole formation at high redshifts

In this paper, we explore the possibility of accreting primordial black holes as the source of heating for the collapsing gas in the context of the direct collapse black hole scenario for the formation of super-massive black holes (SMBHs) at high redshifts, $z\sim 6-7$. One of the essential requirements for the direct collapse model to work is to maintain the temperature of the in falling gas at $\approx 10^4$ K. We show that even under the existing abundance limits, the primordial black holes of masses $\gtrsim 10^{-2} \ {\rm M}_\odot$, can heat the collapsing gas to an extent that the ${\rm H}_2$ formation is inhibited. The collapsing gas can maintain its temperature at $10^4$ K till the gas reaches a critical density $n_{crit} \approx 10^3$ cm$^{-3}$, at which the roto-vibrational states of ${\rm H}_2$ approaches local thermodynamic equilibrium and ${\rm H}_2$ cooling becomes inefficient. In the absence of ${\rm H}_2$ cooling the temperature of the collapsing gas stays at $\approx 10^4$ K even as it collapses further. We discuss scenarios of subsequent angular momentum removal and the route to find collapse through either a supermassive star or a supermassive disk.

Structure of protoplanetary discs with magnetically driven winds

We present a new set of analytical solutions to model the steady state structure of a protoplanetary disc with a magnetically-driven wind. Our model implements a parametrization of the stresses involved and the wind launching mechanism in terms of the plasma parameter at the disc midplane, as suggested by the results of recent, local MHD simulations. When wind mass-loss is accounted for, we find that its rate significantly reduces the disc surface density, particularly in the inner disc region. We also find that models that include wind mass-loss lead to thinner dust layers. As an astrophysical application of our models, we address the case of HL Tau, whose disc exhibits a high accretion rate and efficient dust settling at its midplane. These two observational features are not easy to reconcile with conventional accretion disc theory, where the level of turbulence needed to explain the high accretion rate would prevent a thin dust layer. Our disc model that incorporates both mass-loss and angular momentum removal by a wind is able to account for HL Tau observational constraints concerning its high accretion rate and dust layer thinness.

A study of the effect of rotational mixing on massive stars evolution: surface abundances of Galactic O7-8 giant stars

Context. Massive star evolution remains only partly constrained. In particular, the exact role of rotation has been questioned by puzzling properties of OB stars in the Magellanic Clouds. Aims. Our goal is to study the relation between surface chemical composition and rotational velocity, and to test predictions of evolutionary models including rotation. Methods. We have performed a spectroscopic analysis of a sample of fifteen Galactic O7-8 giant stars. This sample is homogeneous in terms of mass, metallicity and evolutionary state. It is made of stars with a wide range of projected rotational velocities. Results. We show that the sample stars are located on the second half of the main sequence, in a relatively narrow mass range (25–40 M⊙). Almost all stars with projected rotational velocities above 100 km s-1 have N/C ratios about ten times the initial value. Below 100 km s-1 a wide range of N/C values is observed. The relation between N/C and surface gravity is well reproduced by various sets of models. Some evolutionary models including rotation are also able to consistently explain slowly rotating, highly enriched stars. This is due to differential rotation which efficiently transports nucleosynthesis products and allows the surface to rotate slower than the core. In addition, angular momentum removal by winds amplifies surface braking on the main sequence. Comparison of the surface composition of O7-8 giant stars with a sample of B stars with initial masses about four times smaller reveal that chemical enrichment scales with initial mass, as expected from theory. Conclusions. Although evolutionary models that include rotation face difficulties in explaining the chemical properties of O- and B-type stars at low metallicity, some of them can consistently account for the properties of main-sequence Galactic O stars in the mass range 25–40 M⊙.

Mass transfer in white dwarf–neutron star binaries

We perform hydrodynamic simulations of mass transfer in binaries that contain a white dwarf and a neutron star (WD-NS binaries), and measure the specific angular momentum of material lost from the binary in disc winds. By incorporating our results within a long-term evolution model we measure the long-term stability of mass transfer in these binaries. We find that only binaries containing helium white dwarfs with masses less than a critical mass of $M_{\rm WD,crit}=0.2\,M_\odot$ undergo stable mass transfer and evolve into ultra-compact $X$-ray binaries. Systems with higher-mass white dwarfs experience unstable mass transfer, which leads to tidal disruption of the white dwarf. Our low critical mass compared to the standard jet-only model of mass loss arises from the efficient removal of angular momentum in the mechanical disc winds which develop at highly super-Eddington mass-transfer rates. We find that the eccentricities expected for WD-NS binaries when they come into contact do not affect the loss of angular momentum, and can only affect the long-term evolution if they change on shorter timescales than the mass-transfer rate. Our results are broadly consistent with the observed numbers of both ultra-compact $X$-ray binaries and radio pulsars with white dwarf companions. The observed calcium-rich gap transients are consistent with the merger rate of unstable systems with higher-mass white dwarfs.

DYNAMICAL MODEL FOR SPINDOWN OF SOLAR-TYPE STARS

ABSTRACT After their formation, stars slow down their rotation rates by the removal of angular momentum from their surfaces, e.g., via stellar winds. Explaining how this rotation of solar-type stars evolves in time is currently an interesting but difficult problem in astrophysics. Despite the complexity of the processes involved, a traditional model, where the removal of angular momentum by magnetic fields is prescribed, has provided a useful framework to understand observational relations between stellar rotation, age, and magnetic field strength. Here, for the first time, a spindown model is proposed where loss of angular momentum by magnetic fields evolves dynamically, instead of being prescibed kinematically. To this end, we evolve the stellar rotation and magnetic field simultaneously over stellar evolution time by extending our previous work on a dynamo model which incorporates nonlinear feedback mechanisms on rotation and magnetic fields. We show that our extended model reproduces key observations and is capable of explaining the presence of the two branches of (fast and slow rotating) stars which have different relations between rotation rate Ω versus time (age), magnetic field strength versus rotation rate, and frequency of magnetic field versus rotation rate. For fast rotating stars we find that: (i) there is an exponential spindown , with t measured in Gyr; (ii) magnetic activity saturates for higher rotation rate; (iii) . For slow rotating stars we find: (i) a power-law spindown ; (ii) that magnetic activity scales roughly linearly with rotation rate; (iii) . The results obtained from our investigations are in good agreement with observations. The Vaughan–Preston gap is consistently explained in our model by the shortest spindown timescale in this transition from fast to slow rotators. Our results highlight the importance of self-regulation of magnetic fields and rotation by direct and indirect interactions involving nonlinear feedback in stellar evolution.

Binary interactions with high accretion rates onto main sequence stars

Energetic outflows from main sequence stars accreting mass at very high rates might account for the powering of some eruptive objects, such as merging main sequence stars, major eruptions of luminous blue variables, e.g., the Great Eruption of Eta Carinae, and other intermediate luminosity optical transients (ILOTs; red novae; red transients). These powerful outflows could potentially also supply the extra energy required in the common envelope process and in the grazing envelope evolution of binary systems. We propose that a massive outflow/jets mediated by magnetic fields might remove energy and angular momentum from the accretion disk to allow such high accretion rate flows. By examining the possible activity of the magnetic fields of accretion disks, we conclude that indeed main sequence stars might accrete mass at very high rates, up to ≈ 10−2 M⊙ yr−1 for solar type stars, and up to ≈ 1 M⊙ yr−1 for very massive stars. We speculate that magnetic fields amplified in such extreme conditions might lead to the formation of massive bipolar outflows that can remove most of the disk's energy and angular momentum. It is this energy and angular momentum removal that allows the very high mass accretion rate onto main sequence stars.

Integrated accretion disc angular momentum removal and astrophysical jet acceleration mechanism

Ions and neutrals in the weakly ionized plasma of an accretion disc are tightly bound because of the high ion–neutral collision frequency. A cluster of a statistically large number of ions and neutrals behaves as a fluid element having the charge of the ions and the mass of the neutrals. This fluid element is effectively a metaparticle having such an extremely small charge-to-mass ratio that its cyclotron frequency can be of the order of the Kepler angular frequency. In this case, metaparticles with a critical charge-to-mass ratio can have zero canonical angular momentum. Zero canonical angular momentum metaparticles experience no centrifugal force and spiral inwards towards the central body. Accumulation of these inward spiralling metaparticles near the central body produces radially and axially outward electric fields. The axially outward electric field drives an out-of-plane poloidal electric current along arched poloidal flux surfaces in the highly ionized volume outside the disc. This out-of-plane current and its associated magnetic field produce forces that drive bidirectional astrophysical jets flowing normal to and away from the disc. The poloidal electric current circuit removes angular momentum from the accreting mass and deposits this removed angular momentum at near infinite radius in the disc plane. The disc region is an electric power source (E⋅J 0).

RECONSTRUCTING THE SOLAR WIND FROM ITS EARLY HISTORY TO CURRENT EPOCH

ABSTRACT Stellar winds from active solar-type stars can play a crucial role in removal of stellar angular momentum and erosion of planetary atmospheres. However, major wind properties except for mass-loss rates cannot be directly derived from observations. We employed a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic Alfvén wave driven solar wind model, ALF3D, to reconstruct the solar wind parameters including the mass-loss rate, terminal velocity, and wind temperature at 0.7, 2, and 4.65 Gyr. Our model treats the wind thermal electrons, protons, and pickup protons as separate fluids and incorporates turbulence transport, eddy viscosity, turbulent resistivity, and turbulent heating to properly describe proton and electron temperatures of the solar wind. To study the evolution of the solar wind, we specified three input model parameters, the plasma density, Alfvén wave amplitude, and the strength of the dipole magnetic field at the wind base for each of three solar wind evolution models that are consistent with observational constrains. Our model results show that the velocity of the paleo solar wind was twice as fast, ∼50 times denser and 2 times hotter at 1 AU in the Sun's early history at 0.7 Gyr. The theoretical calculations of mass-loss rate appear to be in agreement with the empirically derived values for stars of various ages. These results can provide realistic constraints for wind dynamic pressures on magnetospheres of (exo)planets around the young Sun and other active stars, which is crucial in realistic assessment of the Joule heating of their ionospheres and corresponding effects of atmospheric erosion.

HYDROMAGNETICS OF ADVECTIVE ACCRETION FLOWS AROUND BLACK HOLES: REMOVAL OF ANGULAR MOMENTUM BY LARGE-SCALE MAGNETIC STRESSES

We show that the removal of angular momentum is possible in the presence of large scale magnetic stresses in geometrically thick, advective, sub-Keplerian accretion flows around black holes in steady-state, in the complete absence of alpha-viscosity. The efficiency of such an angular momentum transfer could be equivalent to that of alpha-viscosity with alpha=0.01-0.08. Nevertheless, required field is well below its equipartition value, leading to a magnetically stable disk flow. This is essentially important in order to describe the hard spectral state of the sources, when the flow is non/sub-Keplerian. We show in our simpler 1.5-dimensional, vertically averaged disk model that larger the vertical-gradient of azimuthal component of magnetic field, stronger the rate of angular momentum transfer is, which in turn may lead to a faster rate of outflowing matter. Finding efficient angular momentum transfer, in black hole disks, via magnetic stresses alone is very interesting, when the generic origin of alpha-viscosity is still being explored.

Liberation of Specific Angular Momentum Through Radiation and Scattering in Relativistic Black-Hole Accretion Disks

AbstractA key component of explaining the array of galaxies observed in the Universe is the feedback of active galactic nuclei, each powered by a massive black hole’s accretion disk. For accretion to occur, angular momentum must be lost by that which is accreted. Electromagnetic radiation must offer some respite in this regard, the contribution for which is quantified in this paper, using solely general relativity, under the thin-disk regime. Herein, I calculate extremised situations where photons are entirely responsible for energy removal in the disk and then extend and relate this to the standard relativistic accretion disk outlined by Novikov & Thorne, which includes internal angular-momentum transport. While there is potential for the contribution of angular-momentum removal from photons to be ≳ 1% out to ~ 104 Schwarzschild radii if the disk is irradiated and maximally liberated of angular momentum through inverse Compton scattering, it is more likely of order 102 Schwarzschild radii if thermal emission from the disk itself is stronger. The effect of radiation/scattering is stronger near the horizons of fast-spinning black holes, but, ultimately, other mechanisms must drive angular-momentum liberation/transport in accretion disks.

ON THE ROLE OF PSEUDODISK WARPING AND RECONNECTION IN PROTOSTELLAR DISK FORMATION IN TURBULENT MAGNETIZED CORES

The formation of rotationally supported protostellar disks is suppressed in ideal MHD in non-turbulent cores with aligned magnetic field and rotation axis. A promising way to resolve this so-called "magnetic braking catastrophe" is through turbulence. The reason for the turbulence-enabled disk formation is usually attributed to the turbulence-induced magnetic reconnection, which is thought to reduce the magnetic flux accumulated in the disk-forming region. We advance an alternative interpretation, based on magnetic decoupling-triggered reconnection of severely pinched field lines close to the central protostar and turbulence-induced warping of the pseudodisk of Galli and Shu. Such reconnection weakens the central split magnetic monopole that lies at the heart of the magnetic braking catastrophe under flux freezing. We show, through idealized numerical experiments, that the pseudodisk can be strongly warped, but not completely destroyed, by a subsonic or sonic turbulence. The warping decreases the rates of angular momentum removal from the pseudodisk by both magnetic torque and outflow, making it easier to form a rotationally supported disk. More importantly, the warping of the pseudodisk out of the disk-forming, equatorial plane greatly reduces the amount of magnetic flux threading the circumstellar, disk-forming region, further promoting disk formation. The beneficial effects of pseudodisk warping can also be achieved by a misalignment between the magnetic field and rotation axis. These two mechanisms of disk formation, enabled by turbulence and field-rotation misalignment respectively, are thus unified. We find that the disks formed in turbulent magnetized cores are rather thick and significantly magnetized. Implications of these findings, particularly for the thick young disk inferred in L1527, are briefly discussed.

Forming a Moon with an Earth-like Composition via a Giant Impact

In the giant impact theory, the Moon formed from debris ejected into an Earth-orbiting disk by the collision of a large planet with the early Earth. Prior impact simulations predict that much of the disk material originates from the colliding planet. However, Earth and the Moon have essentially identical oxygen isotope compositions. This has been a challenge for the impact theory, because the impactor's composition would have likely differed from that of Earth. We simulated impacts involving larger impactors than previously considered. We show that these can produce a disk with the same composition as the planet's mantle, consistent with Earth-Moon compositional similarities. Such impacts require subsequent removal of angular momentum from the Earth-Moon system through a resonance with the Sun as recently proposed.

On the magnetic flux problem in star formation

Strong magnetic fields play a crucial role in the removal of angular momentum from collapsing clouds and protostellar discs, and are necessary for the formation of disc winds as well as jets from the inner disc and, indeed, strong large-scale poloidal magnetic fields are observed in protostellar discs at all radii down to ∼10 R⊙. Nevertheless, by the time the star is visible virtually, all of the original magnetic flux has vanished. We explore mechanisms for removing this flux during the formation of the protostar once it is magnetically disconnected from the parent cloud, looking at both radiative and convective protostars. This includes a numerical investigation of buoyant magnetic field removal from convective stars. It is found that if the star goes through a fully convective phase, all remaining flux can easily be removed from the protostar, essentially on an Alfvén time-scale. If, on the other hand, the protostar has no fully convective phase, then some flux can be retained, the quantity depending on the net magnetic helicity, which is probably quite small. Only some fraction of this flux is visible at the stellar surface. We also look at how the same mechanisms could prevent flux from accreting on to the star at all, meaning that mass would only accrete as fast as it is able to slip past the flux.

The Hall effect in star formation

Magnetic fields play an important role in star formation by regulating the removal of angular momentum from collapsing molecular cloud cores. Hall diffusion is known to be important to the magnetic field behaviour at many of the intermediate densities and field strengths encountered during the gravitational collapse of molecular cloud cores into protostars, and yet its role in the star formation process is not well-studied. We present a semianalytic self-similar model of the collapse of rotating isothermal molecular cloud cores with both Hall and ambipolar diffusion, and similarity solutions that demonstrate the profound influence of the Hall effect on the dynamics of collapse. The solutions show that the size and sign of the Hall parameter can change the size of the protostellar disc by up to an order of magnitude and the protostellar accretion rate by fifty per cent when the ratio of the Hall to ambipolar diffusivities is varied between -0.5 <= eta_H / eta_A <= 0.2. These changes depend upon the orientation of the magnetic field with respect to the axis of rotation and create a preferred handedness to the solutions that could be observed in protostellar cores using next-generation instruments such as ALMA. Hall diffusion also determines the strength and position of the shocks that bound the pseudo and rotationally-supported discs, and can introduce subshocks that further slow accretion onto the protostar. In cores that are not initially rotating Hall diffusion can even induce rotation, which could give rise to disc formation and resolve the magnetic braking catastrophe. The Hall effect clearly influences the dynamics of gravitational collapse and its role in controlling the magnetic braking and radial diffusion of the field merits further exploration in numerical simulations of star formation.

THE ROLE OF TURBULENT MAGNETIC RECONNECTION IN THE FORMATION OF ROTATIONALLY SUPPORTED PROTOSTELLAR DISKS

The formation of protostellar disks out of molecular cloud cores is still not fully understood. Under ideal MHD conditions, the removal of angular momentum from the disk progenitor by the typically embedded magnetic field may prevent the formation of a rotationally supported disk during the main protostellar accretion phase of low mass stars. This has been known as the magnetic braking problem and the most investigated mechanism to alleviate this problem and help removing the excess of magnetic flux during the star formation process, the so called ambipolar diffusion (AD), has been shown to be not sufficient to weaken the magnetic braking at least at this stage of the disk formation. In this work, motivated by recent progress in the understanding of magnetic reconnection in turbulent environments, we appeal to the diffusion of magnetic field mediated by magnetic reconnection as an alternative mechanism for removing magnetic flux. We investigate numerically this mechanism during the later phases of the protostellar disk formation and show its high efficiency. By means 3D MHD simulations, we show that this mechanism is able to transport magnetic flux to the outskirts of the disk progenitor at time scales compatible with the collapse, allowing the formation of a rotationally supported disk around the protostar of dimensions ~100 AU. Since MHD turbulence is expected to be present in protostellar disks, this is a natural mechanism for removing magnetic flux excess and allowing the formation of these disks. This mechanism dismiss the necessity of postulating a hypothetical increase of the Ohmic resistivity as discussed in the literature. Together with our earlier work which showed that magnetic flux removal from molecular cloud cores is very efficient, this work calls for reconsidering the relative role of AD for the processes of star and planet formation.

Detection of the Earth rotation response to a rapid fluctuation of Southern Ocean circulation in November 2009

At seasonal and shorter periods the solid Earth and its overlying geophysical fluids form a closed dynamical system, which (except for tidal forcing) conserves its total angular momentum. While atmospheric effects dominate changes in the Earth's rate of rotation and hence length‐of‐day (LOD) on these time scales, the addition of oceanic angular momentum (OAM) estimates has been shown to improve closure of the LOD budget in a statistical sense. Here we demonstrate, for the first time, the signature of a specific, sub‐monthly ocean current fluctuation on the Earth's rotation rate, coinciding with recently‐reported anomalies which developed in southeast Pacific surface temperature and bottom pressure fields during late 2009. Our results show that concurrent variations in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), which saw a sharp drop and recovery in zonal transport during a two‐week period in November, were strong enough to cause a detectable change in LOD following the removal of atmospheric angular momentum (AAM) computed from the Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) database. The strong OAM variations driving the LOD‐AAM changes were diagnosed from ocean state estimates of the Consortium for Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) and involved roughly equal contributions from the current and pressure terms, with in situ confirmation for the latter provided by tide‐corrected bottom pressure recorder data from the South Drake Passage site of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current Levels by Altimetry and Island Measurements (ACCLAIM) network.

Theory of quasi-spherical accretion in X-ray pulsars

A theoretical model for quasi-spherical subsonic accretion onto slowly rotating magnetized neutron stars is constructed. In this model the accreting matter subsonically settles down onto the rotating magnetosphere forming an extended quasi-static shell. This shell mediates the angular momentum removal from the rotating neutron star magnetosphere during spin-down episodes by large-scale convective motions. The accretion rate through the shell is determined by the ability of the plasma to enter the magnetosphere. The settling regime of accretion can be realized for moderate accretion rates $\dot M< \dot M_*\simeq 4\times 10^{16}$ g/s. At higher accretion rates a free-fall gap above the neutron star magnetosphere appears due to rapid Compton cooling, and accretion becomes highly non-stationary. From observations of the spin-up/spin-down rates (the angular rotation frequency derivative $\dot \omega^*$, and $\partial\dot\omega^*/\partial\dot M$ near the torque reversal) of X-ray pulsars with known orbital periods, it is possible to determine the main dimensionless parameters of the model, as well as to estimate the magnetic field of the neutron star. We illustrate the model by determining these parameters for three wind-fed X-ray pulsars GX 301-2, Vela X-1, and GX 1+4. The model explains both the spin-up/spin-down of the pulsar frequency on large time-scales and the irregular short-term frequency fluctuations, which can correlate or anti-correlate with the X-ray flux fluctuations in different systems. It is shown that in real pulsars an almost iso-angular-momentum rotation law with $\omega \sim 1/R^2$, due to strongly anisotropic radial turbulent motions sustained by large-scale convection, is preferred.

Magnetic fields during the early stages of massive star formation - I. Accretion and disc evolution

We present simulations of collapsing 100 M_\sun mass cores in the context of massive star formation. The effect of variable initial rotational and magnetic energies on the formation of massive stars is studied in detail. We focus on accretion rates and on the question under which conditions massive Keplerian disks can form in the very early evolutionary stage of massive protostars. For this purpose, we perform 12 simulations with different initial conditions extending over a wide range in parameter space. The equations of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) are solved under the assumption of ideal MHD. We find that the formation of Keplerian disks in the very early stages is suppressed for a mass-to-flux ratio normalised to the critical value \mu below 10, in agreement with a series of low-mass star formation simulations. This is caused by very efficient magnetic braking resulting in a nearly instantaneous removal of angular momentum from the disk. For weak magnetic fields, corresponding to \mu > 10, large-scale, centrifugally supported disks build up with radii exceeding 100 AU. A stability analysis reveals that the disks are supported against gravitationally induced perturbations by the magnetic field and tend to form single stars rather than multiple objects. We find protostellar accretion rates of the order of a few 10^-4 M_\sun yr^-1 which, considering the large range covered by the initial conditions, vary only by a factor of ~ 3 between the different simulations. We attribute this fact to two competing effects of magnetic fields. On the one hand, magnetic braking enhances accretion by removing angular momentum from the disk thus lowering the centrifugal support against gravity. On the other hand, the combined effect of magnetic pressure and magnetic tension counteracts gravity by exerting an outward directed force on the gas in the disk thus reducing the accretion onto the protostars.