Heating of a Star by Disk Accretion

Abstract

We examine various ways in which disk accretion can heat an accreting star. These include 1) radiation emitted from the disk surface which is intercepted by the stellar surface, 2) radiative flux directly across the disk-star interface, and 3) advection of thermal energy from the disk into the star. For each of these, the physics of the boundary layer between the disk and the star is crucial to determining the amount of stellar heating that occurs. We assess the importance of the methods listed above for heating the star in accreting pre-main-sequence stars and cataclysmic variables, using recent models of boundary layers in these systems. We find that intercepted radiation tends to be the most important source of stellar heating in thin disk systems such as T Tauri stars and high-$\dot M$ cataclysmic variables. We argue that direct radiation across the disk-star interface will be unimportant in steady-state systems. However, it may be important in outbursting systems, where the disk temperature rises and falls rapidly. Advection of thermal energy into the star becomes the dominant source of stellar heating in thick disk systems such as FU Orionis objects.