A Weakly nonlinear theory for spiral density waves excited by accretion disc turbulence

TL;DR

This paper presents an analytic weakly nonlinear theory for spiral density waves in accretion disks, incorporating shock effects, and confirms its validity through numerical simulations, highlighting the role of shocks in wave dissipation.

Contribution

It introduces a modified Burgers equation for spiral wave dynamics in accretion disks, including shocks and dispersion, and demonstrates its applicability to MRI turbulence simulations.

Findings

Wave amplitude decreases as 1/t^2 due to shocks.

Analytic solutions match MRI simulation profiles.

Shocks significantly contribute to wave dissipation.

Abstract

We develop an analytic theory to describe spiral density waves propagating in a shearing disc in the weakly nonlinear regime. Such waves are generically found to be excited in simulations of turbulent accretion disks, in particular if said turbulence arises from the magneto-rotational instability (MRI). We derive a modified Burgers equation governing their dynamics, which includes the effects of nonlinear steepening, dispersion, and a bulk viscosity to support shocks. We solve this equation approximately to obtain nonlinear sawtooth solutions that are asymptotically valid at late times. In this limit, the presence of shocks is found to cause the wave amplitude to decrease with time as 1/t^2. The validity of the analytic description is confirmed by direct numerical solution of the full nonlinear equations of motion. The asymptotic forms of the wave profiles of the state variables are also found to occur in MRI simulations indicating that dissipation due to shocks plays a significant role apart from any effects arising from direct coupling to the turbulence.