Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Oct 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003aps..dppfo1007j&link_type=abstract
American Physical Society, 45th Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics, October 27-31, 2003, Albuquerque, New Mexico,
Physics
Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Rapid angular momentum transport in accretion disks has been a longstanding astrophysical puzzle. Molecular viscosity and hydrodynamic instabilities are inadequate to explain observationally inferred accretion rates. The magnetorotational instability (MRI) has been proposed as a dominant mechanism for fast angular momentum transport in electrically-conducting accretion disks ranging from quasars and X-ray binaries to cataclysmic variables and perhaps even protoplanetary disks. Despite its popularity, however, the MRI has never been demonstrated and studied in the laboratory. We have proposed a liquid gallium experiment in a short Couette flow geometry, where the required dimensions, angular velocities at the inner and outer cylinders, and axial magnetic field are predicted using local(H. Ji, et al.), Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc. 325, L1(2001). and global(J. Goodman and H. Ji, J. Fluid Mech. 462), 365(2002). theories. Prototype experiments using water have revealed the importance of Ekman circulation in the short Couette system. The measured velocity profile and spindown time are in excellent agreement with hydrodynamic simulations(A. Kageyama, et al.), submitted to Phys. Fluids (2003).. The new apparatus based on a revised design using multiple rings at each end of the flow is under construction. Possible physics insights gained from this experiment, such as the role of compressibility on the MRI saturation, will be discussed. This work is supported by DoE and NSF.
Chen Fangpei
Goodman Jeremy
Hays R.
Ji Hantao
Kageyama Akira
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