Photon Bubbles in Accretion Discs

Abstract

We show that radiation dominated accretion discs are likely to suffer from a ``photon bubble'' instability similar to that described by Arons in the context of accretion onto neutron star polar caps. The instability requires a magnetic field for its existence. In an asymptotic regime appropriate to accretion discs, we find that the overstable modes obey the remarkably simple dispersion relation \omega^2 = -i g k F(B,k). Here g is the vertical gravitational acceleration, B the magnetic field, and F is a geometric factor of order unity that depends on the relative orientation of the magnetic field and the wavevector. In the nonlinear outcome it seems likely that the instability will enhance vertical energy transport and thereby change the structure of the innermost parts of relativistic accretion discs.