Time-dependent, long-term hydrodynamic simulations of the inner protoplanetary disk I: The importance of stellar magnetic torques

TL;DR

This paper presents long-term hydrodynamic simulations of inner protoplanetary disks, emphasizing the significant role of stellar magnetic torques and variable inner disk boundaries in disk evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a self-consistent 1+1D model incorporating stellar magnetic torques, pressure gradients, and variable inner disk radii, advancing the understanding of disk dynamics near the star.

Findings

Magnetic torques significantly influence disk evolution.

Variable inner disk radius affects outburst behavior.

Long-term disk structure is impacted by magnetic fields.

Abstract

We conduct simulations of the inner regions of protoplanetary disks (PPDs) to investigate the effects of protostellar magnetic fields on their long-term evolution. We use an inner boundary model that incorporates the influence of a stellar magnetic field. The position of the inner disk is dependent on the mass accretion rate as well as the magnetic field strength. We use this model to study the response of a magnetically truncated inner disk to an episodic accretion event. Additionally, we vary the protostellar magnetic field strength and investigate the consequences of the magnetic field on the long-term behavior of PPDs. We use the fully implicit 1+1D TAPIR code which solves the axisymmetric hydrodynamic equations self-consistently. Our model allows us to investigate disk dynamics close to the star and to conduct long-term evolution simulations simultaneously and includes the radial radiation transport in the stationary diffusion limit. We include stellar magnetic torques, the influence of a pressure gradient, and a variable inner disk radius in the TAPIR code to describe the innermost disk region in a more self-consistent manner and can show that this approach alters the disk dynamics considerably compared to a simplified diffusive evolution equation, especially during outbursts. The influences of a prescribed stellar magnetic field, local pressure gradients, and a variable inner disk radius result in a more consistent description of the gas dynamics in the innermost regions of PPDs. Combining magnetic torques acting on the innermost disk regions with the long-term evolution of PPDs yields previously unseen results, whereby the whole disk structure is affected over its entire lifetime. Additionally, we want to emphasize that a combination of our 1+1D model with more sophisticated multi-dimensional codes could improve the understanding of PPDs even further.