Magnetohydrodynamic convection in accretion discs

TL;DR

This paper investigates how magnetohydrodynamic convection interacts with the magnetorotational instability in accretion discs through 3D simulations, revealing two main behaviors and their impact on angular momentum transport.

Contribution

It provides the first controlled numerical study of the interaction between MRI and convection, identifying characteristic flow patterns and their effects on turbulence and angular momentum transport.

Findings

Identification of two interaction regimes: straight MRI and MRI/convective cycles.

Convection can significantly enhance turbulent stress, reaching peak alpha values of ~0.08.

Convection promotes MRI persistence at lower magnetic Reynolds numbers.

Abstract

Convection has been discussed in the field of accretion discs for several decades, both as a means of angular momentum transport and also because of its role in controlling discs' vertical structure via heat transport. If the gas is sufficiently ionized and threaded by a weak magnetic field, convection might interact in non-trivial ways with the magnetorotational instability (MRI). Recently, vertically stratified local simulations of the MRI have reported considerable variation in the angular momentum transport, as measured by the stress to thermal pressure ratio $\alpha$, when convection is thought to be present. Although MRI turbulence can act as a heat source for convection, it is not clear how the instabilities will interact dynamically. Here we aim to investigate the interplay between the two instabilities in controlled numerical experiments, and thus isolate the generic features of their interaction. We perform vertically stratified, 3D MHD shearing box simulations with a perfect gas equation of state with the conservative, finite-volume code PLUTO. We find two characteristic outcomes of the interaction between the two instabilities: straight MRI and MRI/convective cycles, with the latter exhibiting alternating phases of convection-dominated flow (during which the turbulent transport is weak) and MRI-dominated flow. During the latter phase we find that $\alpha$ is enhanced by nearly an order of magnitude, reaching peak values of $\sim 0.08$. In addition, we find that convection in the non-linear phase takes the form of large-scale and oscillatory convective cells. Convection can also help the MRI persist to lower Rm than it would otherwise do. Finally we discuss how our results help interpret simulations of Dwarf Novae.