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Lin, D. N. C.

Publications and source records attributed to Lin, D. N. C..

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2005

Apparent Stellar Wobble by a Planet in a Circumstellar Disk: Limitations on Planet Detection by Astrometry

Astrometric detection of a stellar wobble on the plane of the sky will provide us the next breakthrough in searching for extrasolar planets. The Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) is expected to achieve high-precision astrometry as accurate as 1 (mu)as, which is precise enough to discover a newborn Jupiter mass planet around a pre-main-sequence (PMS) star in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region. PMS stars, however, have circumstellar disks that may be obstacles to the precise measurement of the stellar position.We present results on disk influences on the stellar wobble. The density waves excited by a planet move both the disk's mass center and the photocenter. The motion of the disk mass center induces an additional wobble of the stellar position, and the motion of the disk photocenter causes a contamination in the measurement of the stellar position. We show that the additional stellar motion dynamically caused by the disk's gravity is always negligible but that the contamination by the disk light can interfere with the precise measurement of the stellar position if the planet's mass is smaller than approximately 10MJ. The motion of the disk photocenter is sensitive to a slight change in the wave pattern and the disk properties. Measurements by interferometers are generally insensitive to extended sources such as disks. Because of this property, SIM will not suffer significant contamination by the disk light, even if the planet's mass is as small as 1M(sub J).

accretion disks↗
NASA NTRS1995

The FU Orionis outburst as a thermal accretion event: Observational constraints for protostellar disk models

The results of the time-dependent disk models developed in Bell & Lin are compared with observed properties of FU Orionis variables. Specific models are fit to the light curves of Fu Ori, V1515 Cyg, and V1057 Cyg. The slow risetime of V1515 Cyg can be matched by a self-regulated outburst model. The rapid risetimes of FU Ori and V1057 Cyg can be fitted with the application of modest perturbations to the disk surface density. Model disks display spectral features characteristic of observed objects. The color evolution of V1057 Cyg is naturally explained if mass flux drops in the inner disk (r less than 1/4 AU) while remaining steady in the outer disk. The decrease in optical line width (rotational velocity) observed during the decay of V1057 Cyg may be accounted for by an outward-propagating ionization front. We predict that before final decay to the quiescent phase, short-wavelength line widths (lambda less than 1.5 microns) will again increase. It is suggested that FU Orionis outbursts primarily occur to systems during the embedded phase with ages less than several times 10(exp 5) yr.

Bell, K. R.↗
NASA NTRS1995

0n the dynamics of warped accretion disks

We present some analyses of warping modes in inviscid near Keplerian disks taking the three-dimensional structure fully into account. The results of this investigation verify the validity of a vertical averaging approximation for thin disks when the radial wavelength is significantly longer than the disk thickness. They also indicate that long wavelength disturbances may persist for long times. Shorter wavelength disturbances in non-self gravitating disks are found to propagate with little dispersion at a speed related to the sound speed. When self-gravity becomes important, fast and slow waves are found which also propagate with little dispersion. When a small viscosity is included, the evolution of the disturbances becomes more diffusive in character.

Papaloizou, J. C. B.↗
NASA NTRS1995

The coefficient of restitution of ice particles in glancing collisions: Experimental results for unfrosted surfaces

Both Saturn's rings and planetesimal disks are made up of particles in Keplerian orbits. Inelastic collisions between these particles regulate their dynamical evolution and possible aggregation. We present an experiment to simulate glancing collisions in Saturn's rings and in planetesimal disks and thus measure contributions to the energy loss for both normal and tangential velocity components. In this experiment, a spherical iceball mounted on a long-period, two dimensional pendulum is made to impact a flat ice surface in a low-temperature environment. This paper describes the experimental apparatus in detail and presents results for smooth unfrosted surfaces. The energy loss for tangential motion is suprisingly low, indicating that very little friction is present at low impact speeds for relatively smooth ice surfaces and temperatures near 100 K. We have also investigated room-temperature collisions of a rubber ball on a rough surface to understand the energy loss in situations where the tangential friction force is not small. In this analogous case, the energy loss is maximum for impact angles in the range 45 deg-60 deg.

Supulver, Kimberley D.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Is HL Tauri and FU Orionis system in quiescence?

A recent Nobeyama map of HL Tau reveals that gas is infalling in a flattened region approximately 1400 AU around the central star. The apparent motion of the gas provides the necessary condition for the formation of a Keplerian disk with a radius comparable to the size of the primordial solar nebula. The inferred mass infall rate onto the disk is approximately equal to 5 x 10(exp -6) solar mass/yr, which greatly exceeds the maximum estimate of the accretion rate onto the central star (approximately 7 x 10(exp -7) solar mass/yr). Consequently, mass must currently be accumulating in the disk. The estimated age and disk mass of HL Tau suggest that the accumulated matter has been flushed repeatedly on a timescale less than 10(exp 4) yr. Based on the similarites between their evolution patterns, we propose that HL Tau is an FU Orionis system in quiescence. In addition to HL Tau, 14 out of 86 pre-main-sequence stars in the Taurus-Auriga dark clouds have infrared luminosities much greater than their otherwise normal extinction-corrected stellar luminosities. These sources also tend to have flat spectra which may be due to the reprocessing of radiation by dusty, flattened, collapsing envelopes with infall rates a few 10(exp -6) solar mass/yr. Such rates are much larger than estimated central accretion rates for these systems, which suggests that mass must also be accumulating in these disks. If these sources are FU Orionis stars in quiescence, similar to HL Tau, their age and relative abundance imply that the FU Orionis phase occurs over a timescale of approixmately 10(exp 5) yr, and the quiescent phase between each outburst lasts approximately 10(exp 3) =10(exp 4) yr. These inferred properties are compatible with the scenario that FU Orionis outbursts are regulated by a thermal instability in the inner region of the disk.

Lin, D. N. C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Using FU Orionis outbursts to constrain self-regulated protostellar disk models

One-dimensional, convective, vertical structure models and one dimensional time-dependent, radial diffusion models are combined to create a self-consistent picture in which FU Orionis outbursts occur in young stellar objects (YSOs) as the result of a large-scale, self-regulated, thermal ionization instability in the surrounding protostellar accretion disk. Although active accretion disks have long been postulated to be ubiqitous among low-mass YSOs, few constraints have until now been imposed on physical conditions in these disks. By fitting the results of time-dependent disk models to observed timescales of FU Orionis events, we estimate the magnitude of the effective viscous stress in the inner disk (r approximately less than 1 AU) to be, in accordance with an ad hoc 'alpha' prescription, the product of the local sound speed, pressure scale height, and an efficiency factor alpha of 10(exp -4) where hydrogen is neutral and 10(exp 3) where hydrogen is ionized. We hypothesize that all YSOs receive infall onto their outer disks which is steady (or slowly declining with time) and that FU Orionis outbursts are self-regulated, disk outbursts which occur only in systems which transport matter inward at a rate sufficiently high to cause hydrogen to be ionized in the inner disk. We estimate a critical mass flux of dm(sub crit)/dt = 5 x 10(exp 7) solar mass/yr independent of the magnitude of alpha for systems with one solar mass, three solar radius central objects. Infall accretion rates in the range of dm(sub in)/dt = 1-10) x 10(exp -6) solar mass/yr produce observed FU Orionis timescales consistent with estimates of spherical molecular cloud core collapse rates. Modeled ionization fronts are typically initiated near the inner edge of the disk and propogate out to a distance of several tens of stellar radii. Beyond this region, the disk transports mass steadily inward at the supplied constant infall rate. Mass flowing through the innermost disk annulus is equal to dm(sub in)/dt only in a time-averaged sense and is regulated by the ionization of hydrogen in the inner disk such that long intervals (approximately 1000 yr) of low-mass flux: (1-30) x 10(exp -8) solar mass/yr are punctuated by short intervals (approximately 100 yr) of high-mass flux: (1-30) x 10(exp -5) solar mass/yr. Timescales and mass fluxes derived for quiescent and outburst stages are consistent with estimates from observations of T Tauri and FU Orionis systems, respectively.

Bell, K. R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Star trapping and metallicity enrichment in quasars and active galactic nuclei

Recent observational evidence suggests that the metallicity in quasars within a wide range of redshifts, in particular in gas flowing out of the nuclear regions, may be approximately redshift-independent and comparable with or larger than solar. It is plausible that the nuclear metallicity can be internally generated and maintained at approximately time-stationary values in quasars. We identify and estimate efficiency of a mechanism for rapid metallicity enrichment of quasar nuclear gas (in general, in active galactic nuclei) based on star-gas interactions and equivalent to an unusual mode of massive star formation. The mechanism involves capture of low-mass stars from the host galaxy's nucleus by the assemblages of clouds or by accretion disks orbiting the central massive objects (e.g., black holes). Trapping of stars within gaseous disks/clouds occurs through resonant density and bending wave excitation, as well as by hydrodynamical drag. The time scale for trapping stars with total mass equal to that of disk fragment/cloud is of order Hubble time and is remarkably model-independent. Our results show that the described mechanism can produce features suggested by observations, for example, the (super) solar gas metallicity in the nucleus. Thus the observed metallicities in high-redshift quasars do not necessarily imply that global star formation and efficient chemical changes have occurred in their host galaxies at very early cosmological epochs.

Artymowicz, Pawel↗
NASA NTRS1993

Two-dimensional viscous accretion disk models. II - On viscous overstability

Accretion disks have been shown to be susceptible to pulsational overstability when the viscosity coefficient increases upon compression. In this study, the stability of an axisymmetric accretion disk with vertical structure is considered. 2D axisymmetric calculations were performed by solving the set of fully nonlinear hydrodynamic equations, including radiation transport. The time evolution of a representative section (ring) of a thin radiative accretion disk is studied. The existence of the overstability in 2D is confirmed. It is found that the presence of periodic oscillations near the outer boundary of a real disk might account for some of the low-amplitude flickering observed in dwarf novae.

Kley, W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Star and cluster formation in NGC 1275

Luminous, blue, and unresolved objects have been found by imaging the nuclear region of the central galaxy in the Perseus Cluster, NGC 1275. Stellar formation in a cooling flow in which gas clouds confined by weak magnetic fields are allowed to remain at low densities is favored. Cloud-cloud collisions and coagulation in the high cloud density environment at the center of the galaxy then causes some clouds to become gravitationally unstable and to form globular clusters.

Richer, Harvey B.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Evolution of planetesimals. I - Dynamics: Relaxation in a thin disk. II - Numerical simulations

The study examines the effects of density inhomogeneity and differential rotation as well as inelastic collisions on the dynamical evolution of planetesimals. Consideration is given to a three-step analysis: the dynamical evolution of the planetesimals, collisions and mass accumulation, and interaction with gas. It is shown that the velocity dispersion of a cold system of planetesimals increases rapidly due to elastic gravitational scattering. When the dispersion in the epicycle amplitude becomes comparable to the planetesimals' Roche radius, energy is transferred from the systematic Keplerian shear to the dispersive motion. With a numerical N-body scheme, gravitational scattering and physical collisions among a system of planetesimals is simulated. It is shown that dynamical equilibrium is attained with a velocity dispersion comparable to the surface escape velocity of those planetesimals which contribute most of the system mass.

Palmer, P. L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

On the tidal interaction between protostellar disks and companions

Formation of protoplanets and binary stars in a protostellar disk modifies the structure of the disk. Through tidal interactions, energy and angular momentum are transferred between the disk and protostellar or protoplanetary companion. We summarize recent progress in theoretical investigations of the disk-companion tidal interaction. We show that low-mass protoplanets excite density waves at their Lindblad resonances and that these waves are likely to be dissipated locally. When a protoplanet acquires sufficient mass, its tidal torque induces the formation of a gap in the vicinity of its orbit. Gap formation leads to the termination of protoplanetary growth by accretion. For proto-Jupiter to attain its present mass, we require that (1) the primordial solar nebula is heated by viscous dissipation; (2) the viscous evolution time scale of the nebula is comparable to the age of typical T Tauri stars with circumstellar disks; and (3) the mass distribution in the nebula is comparable to that estimated from a minimum-mass nebula model.

Lin, D. N. C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Two-dimensional viscous accretion disk models. I - On meridional circulations in radiative regions

It has been suggested that thin Keplerian disks, like rotating stars, cannot attain hydrostatic and thermal equilibrium simultaneously if the angular velocity is a function of radius only. To address the problem of vertical structure and stability of thin accretion disks, we performed 2D axisymmetric calculations by solving the set of fully nonlinear hydrodynamic equations, including radiation transport. The results indicate that the variation of the rotational velocity with height is too small to sustain hydrostatic equilibrium. Instead, the variation of the radial (inflow) velocity with height suffices to establish a stationary state. In particular, we find that for low values of the viscosity parameter alpha, there is mass outflow in the central parts of the disk close to the equatorial plane, and inflow only near the surface. Only for modestly high values of alpha, the flow throughout the disk is directed inward. Thus, the flow within the disk is the result of viscous radial inflow plus a circulatory flow directed outward in the midplane and inward near the surface.

Kley, W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Possible observational consequences of primordial binaries in globular clusters

The paper investigates the observational consequences of the evolution of a primordial binary population in a globular cluster. For those binary systems which begin mass transfer at orbital periods of less than about 1 d, the system is expected to evolve to a contact binary stage and to eventually merge to form a single star. At longer orbital periods, the binary system will enter into a common envelope stage. For periods less than about 10 d, the system is likely to merge, and the outcome of the evolution is a single red giant star. For systems characterized by orbital periods greater than about 15 d, a detached red dwarf-white dwarf binary system is expected to change. As a consequence of the mergers, a range in masses for the red giant stars is possible, leading to a color spread on the RGB of the color magnitude diagram. The luminosity function of stars at high luminosities is expected to steepen as a result of tidal interaction in the binary. It is suggested that the formation of cataclysmic variables via primordial binaries is expected only in loosely bound clusters of low-velocity dispersion.

Taam, Ronald E.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Spectral evolution of accretion disks of dwarf novae. III - Outburst cycle of SS Cygni

A modified disk atmosphere has been used to produce absorption profiles for H-beta, H-gamma, and He I 4471 A lines to fit those at the maximum light during the October 1981 outbursts of SS Cyg and those during the decline. The coexistence of strong emission cores and absorption wings at the maximum light shows that the mass transfer rate at SS Cyg in the outburst was about 5 x 10 exp 17 g/s. The viscosity parameter in the disk during quiescence is between 0.006 and 0.6. The weak emission and shallow absorption during rise indicate that the outburst is initiated from the inner region of the accretion disk during the outburst. This result is compatible with the disk thermal instability hypothesis for CV outbursts, but incompatible with the mass transfer instability scenario for CV outbursts.

Cheng, F. H.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Young globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy

Ruprecht 106 and Pal 12 are two known globular clusters in the Milky Way that are unequivocally younger than other clusters of similar metallicity. The Galactic coordinates of Ruprecht 106 place it near to the Magellanic Stream in projection, suggesting a tidal capture from the Magellanic Clouds. It is demonstrated that a family of orbits for both clusters can be constructed that are consistent with this capture hypothesis and that these then lead to a prediction of 3 milliarcseconds per year for the proper motions of both Ruprecht 106 and Pal 12.

Lin, D. N. C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Tidal evolution of globular clusters. I - Method

Tidal evolution of globular clusters is regulated by both Galactic tidal effects and internal relaxation processes. In order to investigate the tidal evolution of globular clusters, a numerical scheme which utilizes a Fokker-Planck approach as well as direct numerical integration of the restricted three-body problem is developed. In the inner regions of the cluster, stellar orbits are mapped with the cluster's gravitational potential and orbit-averaged diffusion coefficients. In the outer regions, the Galactic tidal field is explicitly included in the direct orbital integration. This method is presented here with some tests on King-Michie models.

Oh, K. S.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Tidal evolution of globular clusters. II - The effects of Galactic tidal field and diffusion

The tidal evolution of globular clusters subject to various degrees of the internal diffusion process is investigated. In cases of negligible diffusion, clusters are found to be tidally truncated to the theoretical tidal radius at perigalacticon. There is no apparent orbital phase dependence of the tidal radius for clusters with eccentric orbits. In clusters with moderately short two-body relaxation time scales, diffusion processes significantly modify the structure of the outer regions in such a way that the limiting radius may be comparable to the tidal radius at apogalacticon. The Galactical tidal torque induces isotropy in the velocity dispersion of the outer regions of the cluster. For relaxed clusters, the velocity dispersion may be isotropic in the core, anisotropic in the envelope and isotropic near the limiting radius. Disk shocking is also very efficient for isotropizing the orbits of stars in the outer cluster regions. Stars with direct orbits are less stable, so that prolonged tidal interaction can lead to apparent retrograde rotation in the outer regions of the cluster.

Oh, K. S.↗