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[26.22] MHD simulations of the Bardeen-Petterson effect in accretion disks

B. McKernan, C. S. Reynolds (University of Maryland College Park)

The Bardeen-Petterson effect causes a tilted accretion disk to warp into the equatorial plane of a rapidly rotating central black hole. Viscous forces separate the accretion flow into an outer tilted disk and an inner, aligned disk. Here we present the results of MHD simulations of the Bardeen-Petterson effect. We show that the magneto-rotational instability gives rise to a turbulent accretion flow which permits viscous alignment of the inner disk with the spin of the central black hole.

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: mckernan@astro.umd.edu

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.