The role of turbulence during the formation of circumbinary discs

TL;DR

This study uses 3D MHD simulations to investigate how turbulence influences the formation and characteristics of circumbinary discs during binary star formation, revealing that turbulence affects disc size, mass, and outflow efficiency.

Contribution

It demonstrates that turbulence levels critically impact circumbinary disc formation, size, and outflow properties, providing new insights into star and planet formation processes.

Findings

Turbulence promotes larger, more massive circumbinary discs.

Higher turbulence levels reduce outflow efficiency.

Turbulence may explain the longevity of some observed circumbinary discs.

Abstract

Most stars form in binaries and the evolution of their discs remains poorly understood. To shed light on this subject, we carry out 3D ideal MHD simulations with the AMR code FLASH of binary star formation for separations of $10-20\,\mathrm{AU}$. We run a simulation with no initial turbulence (NT), and two with turbulent Mach numbers of $\mathcal{M} = \sigma_v/c_s = 0.1$ and $0.2$ (T1 and T2) for $5000\,\mathrm{yr}$ after protostar formation. By the end of the simulations the circumbinary discs in NT and T1, if any, have radii of $\lesssim20\,\mathrm{AU}$ with masses $\lesssim0.02\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$, while T2 hosts a circumbinary disc with radius $\sim70-80\,\mathrm{AU}$ and mass $\sim0.12\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$. These circumbinary discs formed from the disruption of circumstellar discs and harden the binary orbit. Our simulated binaries launch large single outflows. We find that NT drives the most massive outflows, and also removes large quantities of linear and angular momentum. T2 produces the least efficient outflows concerning mass, momentum and angular momentum ($\sim$61 per cent, $\sim$71 per cent, $\sim$68 per cent of the respective quantities in NT). We conclude that while turbulence helps to build circumbinary discs which organise magnetic fields for efficient outflow launching, too much turbulence may also disrupt the ordered magnetic field structure required for magneto-centrifugal launching of jets and outflows. We also see evidence for episodic accretion during the binary star evolution. We conclude that the role of turbulence in building large circumbinary discs may explain some observed very old ($>10\,\mathrm{Myr}$) circumbinary discs. The longer lifetime of circumbinary discs may increase the likelihood of planet formation.