Author : Alexander Leonard DeSouza
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (17 download)
Book Synopsis Observational Signatures from Self-gravitating Protostellar Disks by : Alexander Leonard DeSouza
Download or read book Observational Signatures from Self-gravitating Protostellar Disks written by Alexander Leonard DeSouza and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Protostellar disks are the ubiquitous corollary outcome of the angular momentum con-serving, gravitational collapse of molecular cloud cores into stars. Disks are an essential component of the star formation process, mediating the accretion of material onto the pro-tostar, and redistributing excess angular momentum during the collapse. We present a model to explain the observed correlation between mass accretion rates Ṁ and stellar mass M ∗ that has been inferred from the observations of intermediate to upper mass T Tauri stars--that is Ṁ ∝ M 1 . 3 ± 0 . 3 ∗ . We explain this correlation within the framework of gravit ationally driven torques parameterized in terms of Toomre's Q criterion. Our models reproduce both the ob- served correlation and spread in the Ṁ − M ∗ relation as has been observed for protostars with masses of 0 . 2 M ⊙ ≤ M ∗ ≤ 3 . 0 M ⊙ , such as those found in the Ophiuchus and Taurus star forming regions. We also examine the formation and long-term evolution of pri mordial protostellar disks har- bored by the first stars (Population III stars), using 2+1D nu merical hydrodynamics simulations in the thin-disk limit. The disks that form in the primordial environment are very massive and subject to vigorous fragmentation. Fragments torqued inward due to gravitational interactions with sub-structure within the disk give rise to accretion an d luminosity bursts several orders of magnitude above the mean rate--the first evidence for the burs t mode of accretion among Pop- ulation III stars. By considering the cosmological landscape in this epoch, we argue from the Jeans criterion for the existence of clusters of Population III stars. A simultaneity of burst mode accretion events among several cluster members results in fluctuations that are nearly 1000 × greater than the mean cluster luminosity, resulting in a total luminosity above 10 8 L ⊙ . This phenomenon arises solely as a result of the gravitational-instability-driven episodic fragmen- tation and accretion that characterizes this early stage of protostellar evolution. We speculate as to how these extrema may provide a window through which next-generation telescopes will be able to gather observational evidence for the existence of the first stars.