Strongly Magnetized Disks & Thermal Stability

Student: Jessica Anderson

Major: Astrophysics

Mentors: Dr. Chris Fragile

Department: Physics and Astronomy

Strongly Magnetized Disks & Thermal Stability

Shakura-Sunyaev thin disk models are known to be thermally and viscously unstable in the radiation-pressure dominated inner region. The outer region is stabilized due to gas-pressure domination. Magnetic fields have been predicted to thermally stabilize the inner region of the disk due to their effect on the turbulence of the disk. We are seeding the disk with three different initially weak magnetic fields to look for enough amplification of the fields to thermally stabilize the disk.