2003/06/10 by Steven A. Balbus
Physics and Astronomy · #Accretion (finance) #Accretion disc #Angular momentum #Angular velocity #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysical jet #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Magnetic field #Magnetohydrodynamics #Solar rotation #Turbulence #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1146/annurev.astro.41.081401.155207
published as Ann.Rev.Astron.Astrophys.41:555-597,2003 · 43 pages, 2 figures, to appear v.43 A.R.A.A. October 2003
arxiv created 2003/06/10 · openalex publication_date 2003/09/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/08
▪ Abstract The status of our current understanding of angular momentum transport in accretion disks is reviewed. The last decade has seen a dramatic increase both in the recognition of key physical processes and in our ability to carry through direct numerical simulations of turbulent flow. Magnetic fields have at once powerful and subtle influences on the behavior of (sufficiently) ionized gas, rendering them directly unstable to free energy gradients. Outwardly descreasing angular velocity profiles are unstable. The breakdown of Keplerian rotation into MHD turbulence may be studied in some numerical detail, and key transport coefficients may be evaluated. Chandra observations of the Galactic Center support the existence of low luminosity accretion, which may ultimately prove amenable to global three-dimensional numerical simulation.