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1. Formation of dust rings and gaps in non-ideal MHD discs through meridional gas flows

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac1799  

   Hu, Xiao ; Li, Zhi-Yun ; Zhu, Zhaohuan ; Yang, Chao-Chin ( July 2022 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   Rings and gaps are commonly observed in the dust continuum emission of young stellar discs. Previous studies have shown that substructures naturally develop in the weakly ionized gas of magnetized, non-ideal MHD discs. The gas rings are expected to trap large mm/cm-sized grains through pressure gradient-induced radial dust–gas drift. Using 2D (axisymmetric) MHD simulations that include ambipolar diffusion and dust grains of three representative sizes (1 mm, 3.3 mm, and 1 cm), we show that the grains indeed tend to drift radially relative to the gas towards the centres of the gas rings, at speeds much higher than in a smooth disc because of steeper pressure gradients. However, their spatial distribution is primarily controlled by meridional gas motions, which are typically much faster than the dust–gas drift. In particular, the grains that have settled near the mid-plane are carried rapidly inwards by a fast accretion stream to the inner edges of the gas rings, where they are lifted up by the gas flows diverted away from the mid-plane by a strong poloidal magnetic field. The flow pattern in our simulation provides an attractive explanation for the meridional flows recently inferred in HD 163296 and other discs, including both ‘collapsing’ regions where themore »gas near the disc surface converges towards the mid-plane and a disc wind. Our study highlights the prevalence of the potentially observable meridional flows associated with the gas substructure formation in non-ideal MHD discs and their crucial role in generating rings and gaps in dust.

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2. What really makes an accretion disc MAD

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3790  

   Begelman, Mitchell C. ; Scepi, Nicolas ; Dexter, Jason ( January 2022 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   Magnetically arrested accretion discs (MADs) around black holes (BHs) have the potential to stimulate the production of powerful jets and account for recent ultra-high-resolution observations of BH environments. Their main properties are usually attributed to the accumulation of dynamically significant net magnetic (vertical) flux throughout the arrested region, which is then regulated by interchange instabilities. Here, we propose instead that it is mainly a dynamically important toroidal field – the result of dynamo action triggered by the significant but still relatively weak vertical field – that defines and regulates the properties of MADs. We suggest that rapid convection-like instabilities, involving interchange of toroidal flux tubes and operating concurrently with the magnetorotational instability (MRI), can regulate the structure of the disc and the escape of net flux. We generalize the convective stability criteria and disc structure equations to include the effects of a strong toroidal field and show that convective flows could be driven towards two distinct marginally stable states, one of which we associate with MADs. We confirm the plausibility of our theoretical model by comparing its quantitative predictions to simulations of both MAD and SANE (standard and normal evolution; strongly magnetized but not ‘arrested’) discs, and suggest amore »set of criteria that could help to distinguish MADs from other accretion states. Contrary to previous claims in the literature, we argue that MRI is not suppressed in MADs and is probably responsible for the existence of the strong toroidal field.

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3. The interplay between ambipolar diffusion and Hall effect on magnetic field decoupling and protostellar disc formation

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1295  

   Zhao, Bo ; Caselli, Paola ; Li, Zhi-Yun ; Krasnopolsky, Ruben ; Shang, Hsien ; Lam, Ka Ho ( June 2021 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT Non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects have been shown recently as a robust mechanism of averting the magnetic braking ‘catastrophe’ and promoting protostellar disc formation. However, the magnetic diffusivities that determine the efficiency of non-ideal MHD effects are highly sensitive to microphysics. We carry out non-ideal MHD simulations to explore the role of microphysics on disc formation and the interplay between ambipolar diffusion (AD) and Hall effect during the protostellar collapse. We find that removing the smallest grain population (≲10 nm) from the standard MRN size distribution is sufficient for enabling disc formation. Further varying the grain sizes can result in either a Hall-dominated or an AD-dominated collapse; both form discs of tens of au in size regardless of the magnetic field polarity. The direction of disc rotation is bimodal in the Hall-dominated collapse but unimodal in the AD-dominated collapse. We also find that AD and Hall effect can operate either with or against each other in both radial and azimuthal directions, yet the combined effect of AD and Hall is to move the magnetic field radially outward relative to the infalling envelope matter. In addition, microphysics and magnetic field polarity can leave profound imprints both on observables (e.g. outflow morphology, discmore »to stellar mass ratio) and on the magnetic field characteristics of protoplanetary discs. Including Hall effect relaxes the requirements on microphysics for disc formation, so that prestellar cores with cosmic ray ionization rate of ≲2–3 × 10−16 s−1 can still form small discs of ≲10 au radius. We conclude that disc formation should be relatively common for typical prestellar core conditions, and that microphysics in the protostellar envelope is essential to not only disc formation, but also protoplanetary disc evolution.« less
4. Planetesimals around stars with TESS (PAST) – II. An M dwarf ‘dipper’ star with a long-lived disc in the TESS continuous viewing zone

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac1433  

   Gaidos, Eric ; Mann, Andrew W ; Rojas-Ayala, Bárbara ; Feiden, Gregory A ; Wood, Mackenna L ; Narayanan, Suchitra ; Ansdell, Megan ; Jacobs, Tom ; LaCourse, Daryll ( June 2022 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT Studies of T Tauri discs inform planet formation theory; observations of variability due to occultation by circumstellar dust are a useful probe of unresolved, planet-forming inner discs, especially around faint M dwarf stars. We report observations of 2M0632, an M dwarf member of the Carina young moving group that was observed by Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite over two 1-yr intervals. The combined light curve contains >300 dimming events, each lasting a few hours, and as deep as 40 per cent (0.55 magnitudes). These stochastic events are correlated with a distinct, stable 1.86-d periodic signal that could be stellar rotation. Concurrent ground-based, multiband photometry show reddening consistent with interstellar medium-like dust. The star’s excess emission in the infrared and emission lines in optical and infrared spectra reveal a T Tauri-like accretion disc around the star. We confirm membership of 2M0632 in the Carina group by a Bayesian analysis of its Galactic space motion and position. We combine stellar evolution models with Gaia photometry and constraints on Teff, luminosity, and the absence of detectable lithium in the photosphere to constrain the age of the group and 2M0632 to 40–60 Myr, consistent with earlier estimates. 2M0632 joins a handful of long-lived discs which challenge themore »canon that disc lifetimes are ≲10 Myr. All known examples surround M dwarfs, suggesting that lower X-ray/ultraviolet irradiation and slower photoevaporation by these stars can dramatically affect disc evolution. The multiplanet systems spawned by long-lived discs probably experienced significant orbital damping and migration into close-in, resonant orbits, and perhaps represented by the TRAPPIST-1 system.« less
5. Hydrodynamic simulations of disrupted planetary accretion discs inside the core of an AGB star

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz2641  

   Guidarelli, G. ; Nordhaus, J. ; Chamandy, L. ; Chen, Z. ; Blackman, E. G. ; Frank, A. ; Carroll-Nellenback, J. ; Liu, B. ( September 2019 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   Volume complete sky surveys provide evidence for a binary origin for the formation of isolated white dwarfs with magnetic fields in excess of a MegaGauss. Interestingly, not a single high-field magnetic white dwarf has been found in a detached system, suggesting that if the progenitors are indeed binaries, the companion must be removed or merge during formation. An origin scenario consistent with observations involves the engulfment, inspiral, and subsequent tidal disruption of a low-mass companion in the interior of a giant star during a common envelope phase. Material from the shredded companion forms a cold accretion disc embedded in the hot ambient around the proto-white dwarf. Entrainment of hot material may evaporate the disc before it can sufficiently amplify the magnetic field, which typically requires at least a few orbits of the disc. Using three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of accretion discs with masses between 1 and 10 times the mass of Jupiter inside the core of an Asymptotic Giant Branch star, we find that the discs survive for at least 10 orbits (and likely for 100 orbits), sufficient for strong magnetic fields to develop.