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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Disc formation in turbulent cloud cores: is magnetic flux loss necessary to stop the magnetic braking catastrophe or not?

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Author(s):
Santos-Lima, R. [1] ; de Gouveia Dal Pino, E. M. [1] ; Lazarian, A. [2]
Total Authors: 3
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Astron Geofis & Ciencias Atmosfer, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo - Brazil
[2] Univ Wisconsin, Dept Astron, Madison, WI 53706 - USA
Total Affiliations: 2
Document type: Journal article
Source: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society; v. 429, n. 4, p. 3371-3378, MAR 2013.
Web of Science Citations: 29
Abstract

Recent numerical analysis of Keplerian disc formation in turbulent, magnetized cloud cores by Santos-Lima et al. demonstrated that reconnection diffusion is an efficient process to remove the magnetic flux excess during the buildup of a rotationally supported disc. This process is induced by fast reconnection of the magnetic fields in a turbulent flow. In a similar numerical study, Seifried et al. concluded that reconnection diffusion or any other non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic effects would not be necessary and turbulence shear alone would provide a natural way to build up a rotating disc without requiring magnetic flux loss. Their conclusion was based on the fact that the mean mass-to-flux ratio (mu) evaluated over a spherical region with a radius much larger than the disc is nearly constant in their models. In this paper, we compare the two sets of simulations and show that this averaging over large scales can mask significant real increases of mu in the inner regions where the disc is built up. We demonstrate that turbulence-induced reconnection diffusion of the magnetic field happens in the initial stages of the disc formation in the turbulent envelope material that is accreting. Our analysis is suggestive that reconnection diffusion is present in both sets of simulations and provides a simple solution for the `magnetic braking catastrophe' which is discussed in the literature in relation to the formation of protostellar accretion discs. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 09/54006-4 - A computer cluster for the Astronomy Department of the University of São Paulo Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences and for the Cruzeiro do Sul University Astrophysics Center
Grantee:Elisabete Maria de Gouveia Dal Pino
Support Opportunities: Multi-user Equipment Program
FAPESP's process: 06/50654-3 - Investigation of high energy and plasma astrophysics phenomena: theory, observation, and numerical simulations
Grantee:Elisabete Maria de Gouveia Dal Pino
Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants