Time-dependent, long-term hydrodynamic simulations of the inner protoplanetary disk II: The importance of stellar rotation

TL;DR

This study combines hydrodynamic disk simulations with stellar spin evolution models to explore how stellar rotation influences protoplanetary disk dynamics, temperature, and episodic accretion outbursts, revealing new feedback mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a self-consistent model integrating stellar magnetic fields, rotation, and disk evolution, enabling analysis of their combined effects on disk behavior and star-disk interactions.

Findings

Disks around fast rotators are closer to the star and hotter.

Fast rotating stars exhibit more frequent and prolonged accretion outbursts.

The model reproduces observed spin states of young stars.

Abstract

The spin evolution of young protostars, surrounded by an accretion disk, still poses problems for observations and theoretical models. In recent studies, the importance of the magnetic star-disk interaction for stellar spin evolution has been elaborated. The accretion disk in these studies, however, is only represented by a simplified model and important features are not considered. We combined the implicit hydrodynamic TAPIR disk code with a stellar spin evolution model. The influence of stellar magnetic fields on the disk dynamics, the radial position of the inner disk radius, as well as the influence of stellar rotation on the disk were calculated self-consistently. Within a defined parameter space, we can reproduce the majority of fast and slow rotating stars observed in young stellar clusters. Additionally, the back reaction of different stellar spin evolutionary tracks on the disk can be analyzed. Disks around fast rotating stars are located closer to the star. Consequently, the disk midplane temperature in the innermost disk region increases significantly compared to slow rotating stars. We can show the effects of stellar rotation on episodic accretion outbursts. The higher temperatures of disks around fast rotating stars result in more outbursts and a longer outbursting period over the disk lifetime. The combination of a long-term hydrodynamic disk and a stellar spin evolution model allows the inclusion of previously unconsidered effects such as the back-reaction of stellar rotation on the long-term disk evolution and the occurrence of accretion outbursts. However, a wider parameter range has to be studied to further investigate these effects. Additionally, a possible interaction between our model and a more realistic stellar evolution code (e.g., the MESA code) can improve our understanding of the stellar spin evolution and its effects on the pre-main sequence star.