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| Paper: |
The Role of Episodic Accretion in Low-mass Star Formation |
| Volume: |
453, Advances in Computational Astrophysics: Methods, Tools, and Outcome |
| Page: |
397 |
| Authors: |
Stamatellos, D.; Hubber, D. A.; Whitworth, A. |
| Abstract: |
Accretion of material onto young protostars is episodic rather than continuous. We include the effects of episodic accretion in hydrodynamic simulations of star formation and we find that during accretion events protostars are “switched on”, heating and stabilising the discs around them. These events typically last only for a few hundred years, whereas the intervals in between them may last a few thousand years. During these intervals the protostars are effectively “switched off”, allowing gravitational instabilities to develop and their discs to fragment. Thus, episodic accretion promotes disc fragmentation, enabling the formation of low-mass stars, brown dwarfs and planetary-mass objects. |
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