Magnetic Braking of Accreting T Tauri Stars II: Torque Formulation Spanning Spin-Up and Spin-Down Regimes

TL;DR

This paper uses magnetohydrodynamic simulations to analyze the magnetic torque on accreting T Tauri stars, revealing conditions for both spin-up and spin-down regimes and providing formulas to predict stellar rotational evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive model for star-disk magnetic interactions that accounts for both spin-up and spin-down torques, extending previous work to include propeller regimes.

Findings

Net spin-down torque possible within the corotation radius.

Semi-analytic functions predict star-disk torque across regimes.

Simulation results inform stellar rotational evolution models.

Abstract

The magnetic interaction between a classical T Tauri star and its surrounding accretion disk is thought to influence its rotational evolution. We use 2.5D magnetohydrodynamic, axisymmetric simulations of star-disk interaction, computed via the PLUTO code, to calculate the net torque acting on these stars. We divide the net torque into three contributions: accretion (spin-up), stellar winds (spin-down), and magnetospheric ejections (MEs) (spin-up or down). In Paper I, we explored interaction regimes in which the stellar magnetosphere truncates the inner disk at a location spinning faster than the star, resulting in a strong net spin-up contribution from accretion and MEs ("steady accretion" regime). In this paper, we investigate interaction regimes in which the truncation radius gets closer to and even exceeds corotation, where it is possible for the disk material to gain angular momentum and be periodically ejected by the centrifugal barrier ("propeller" regime). This reduces the accretion torque, can change the sign of the ME torque, and can result in a net stellar spin-down configuration. These results suggest it is possible to have a net spin-down stellar torque even for truncation radii within the corotation radius ($R_\text{t} \gtrsim 0.7 R_\text{co}$). We fit semi-analytic functions for the truncation radius, and the torque associated with star-disk interaction (i.e., the sum of accretion and ME torques) and stellar wind, allowing for the prediction of the net stellar torque for a parameter regime covering both net spin-up and spin-down configurations, as well as the possibility of investigating rotational evolution via 1D stellar evolution codes.