Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21537401k&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #374.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.582
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Accretion disks play a crucial role in the formation and evolution of young stars across the stellar mass spectrum. Disks mediate the flow of gas and angular momentum from molecular clouds down to the protostar. When the infall rate becomes large, the disk can no longer transport all of the material onto the central star, causing its mass to increase. When they become too massive, disks can fragment. This process is increasingly important for higher mass stars. I present global numerical experiments that characterize the onset of instability and fragmentation as a function of the infall rate. I also describe the role of disks in the formation of binary and multiple systems, and the subsequent evolution of their orbital parameters. This mechanism may also explain the repartitioning of angular momentum between cores and binary orbits. Finally, I discuss the implications of disk instability for the upper mass limit of stars, and for the formation of massive, wide-orbit planets.
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