Backflow in Accretion Disk

Abstract

Analytical solution for a thin hydrodynamic accretion disk shows that for some values of the viscosity parameter part of the accretion flow in the disk is not towards the star, but in the opposite direction. We study thin disks by performing hydrodynamic simulations and compare the numerical with analytical results. We confirm that for viscosity coefficient smaller than a critical value, there is a backflow in simulations near the disk mid-plane. The distance from the star to the starting point of backflow is increasing with viscosity, as predicted by the analytical solution. When the viscosity coefficient is larger than critical, there is no backflow in the disk.