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Paper: Propagating Bending Waves in Accretion Discs and the Bardeen-Petterson Effect
Volume: 160, Astrophysical Discs: An EC Summer School
Page: 81
Authors: Nelson, Richard P.; Papaloizou, John C. B.; Terquem, Caroline
Abstract: We present a study of the Bardeen-Petterson effect using SPH simulations to calculate accretion disc models in the vicinity of a rotating black hole. The disc dynamics are controlled by bending wave propagation, or by diffusion, so we begin by studying bending wave propagation in Keplerian discs. We compare simulation results with solutions of the linearized problem obtained using finite difference equations, which enables us to calibrate the code viscosity. Our simulations of the Bardeen-Petterson effect explore a range of disc parameters, and we calculate the transition radius out to which the disc angular momentum vector is aligned with that of the black hole. For the parameter range investigated, the transition radius is always found to be much smaller than that obtained by Bardeen & Petterson (1975), because of the role of pressure effects in the simulations.
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