STScI Preprint #1291

Accretion Disks: Limit Cycles and Instabilities

The existing disk instability model for dwarf nova eruptions is reviewed, in the light of recent progress in the understanding of angular momentum transport in accretion disks. It is proposed that the standard lower branch in the "S-curve" in the effective temperature-surface density plane may not exist. Rather, angular momentum transport may be suppressed in quiescence as a result of cooling. The model for superoutbursts is also examined, and it is pointed out that recent simulations strongly support the idea of a thermal-tidal instability.

Status:

Appeared in: Astrophysical Discs, 33-52, 1999

Affiliations:

Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA