Hydrodynamic turbulence cannot transport angular momentum effectively in astrophysical disks

Hantao Ji (), Michael Burin, Ethan Schartman and Jeremy Goodman
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Hantao Ji: Princeton University
Michael Burin: Princeton University
Ethan Schartman: Princeton University
Jeremy Goodman: Princeton University

Nature, 2006, vol. 444, issue 7117, 343-346

Abstract: The power behind the stars The accretion disks that harness gravitational energy to power quasars or form stars and planets are among the most efficient energy sources known. A disk around a black hole, for instance, converts rest-mass energy to radiation at up to 40% efficiency. The nature of this conversion remains something of a mystery. Taylor–Couette experiments (involving fluid flow between rotating cylinders) are central to studies of nonlinear fluid dynamics and transition to turbulence, but mostly in flow regimes irrelevant to astrophysics. In a rare example of experimental astrophysics, a Taylor–Couette apparatus was used to model the forces involved in a rotating fluid in astrophysical conditions. The results rule out purely hydrodynamic turbulence, thereby supporting magnetorotational instabilities as the likely cause of turbulence.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/nature05323

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