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A magnetic scaleheight: The effect of toroidal magnetic fields on the thickness of accretion discs

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Anne Bardou

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Abstract

We consider accreting systems in which the central object interacts, via the agency of its magnetic field, with the disc that surrounds it. The disc is turbulent and, so, has a finite effective conductivity. The field sweeps across the face of the disc, thereby forming a current that is directed radially within the disc. In turn, this disc current creates a toroidal field, where the interaction between the disc current and the toroidal field produces a Lorentz force that compresses the disc. We investigate this compression, which creates a magnetic scaleheight of the disc that can be much smaller than the conventional scaleheight. We derive an analytic expression for the magnetic scaleheight and apply it to fully ionized discs.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Liffman K, Bardou A

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Year: 1999

Volume: 309

Issue: 2

Pages: 443-446

Print publication date: 01/10/1999

ISSN (print): 0035-8711

ISSN (electronic): 1365-2966

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.1999.02852.x

DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-8711.1999.02852.x

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