Evolution of irradiated circumbinary disks

Institut für Astronomie & Astrophysik, Abt. Computational Physics, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, 72076 Tübingen, Germany e-mail: rguenth@tat.physik.uni-tuebingen.de

Received: 9 February 2004
Accepted: 23 April 2004

Abstract

We study the evolution and emission of circumbinary disks around close classical T Tauri binary systems. High resolution numerical hydrodynamical simulations are employed to model a system consisting of a central eccentric binary star within an irradiated accretion disk. A detailed energy balance including viscous heating, radiative cooling and irradiation from the central star is applied to calculate accurately the emitted spectral energy distribution.
Numerical simulations using two different methods, the previously developed Dual-Grid technique with a finite difference discretization, and the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method are employed to compare the hydrodynamical features and strengthen our conclusions.
Physical parameters of the setup are chosen to model the close systems of DQ Tau and AK Sco. Using the self-consistent models, we are able to fit the observed spectral energy distributions by constraining parameters such as disk mass, density profile and radial extension for those systems. We find that the incorporation of irradiation effects is necessary to obtain correct disk temperatures.