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Hydrodynamical Simulations of Misaligned Accretion Discs in Binary Systems: Companions tear discs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2023

S. Doğan Open the ORCID record for S. Doğan [Opens in a new window] ,
C. J. Nixon ,
A. R. King ,
J. E. Pringle  and
D. Price
S. Doğan
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy & Space Sciences, University of Ege, Bornova, İzmir, Turkey
C. J. Nixon
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
A. R. King
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, Netherlands Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Niels Bohrweg 2, NL-2333 CA Leiden, Netherlands
J. E. Pringle
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK
D. Price
Affiliation:
Monash Centre for Astrophysics (MoCA), School of Mathematical Sciences, Monash University, Vic. 3800, Australia email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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Accretion discs appear in many astrophysical systems. In most cases, these discs are probably not completely axisymmetric. Discs in binary systems are often found to be misaligned with respect to the binary orbit. In this case, the gravitational torque from a companion induces nodal precession in misaligned rings of gas. We first calculate whether this precession is strong enough to overcome the internal disc torques communicating angular momentum. For typical parameters, precession torque wins. To check this result, we perform numerical simulations using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics code, PHANTOM, and confirm that sufficiently thin and sufficiently inclined discs can break into distinct planes that precess effectively independently. Disc tearing is widespread and severely changes the disc structure. It enhances dissipation and promotes stronger accretion onto the central object. We also perform a stability analysis on isolated warped discs to understand the physics of disc breaking and tearing observed in numerical simulations. The instability appears in the form of viscous anti-diffusion of the warp amplitude and the surface density. The discovery of disc breaking and tearing has revealed new physical processes that dramatically change the evolution of accretion discs, with obvious implications for observed systems.

Keywords

accretion, accretion discshydrodynamicsinstabilitiesblack hole physics
Type
Contributed Paper
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 16 , Symposium S362: The Predictive Power of Computational Astrophysics as a Discovery Tool , June 2020 , pp. 177 - 183
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Astronomical Union

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