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Astronomy · L5 · From Viscous Accretion to the Eddington Limit

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How gravitational energy released by viscous accretion is radiated, and what happens once the luminosity approaches or exceeds the Eddington limit.

by @openstemUpdated Astronomy
Gas in accretion diskloses angular momentumvia viscous torqueMatter spirals inward,gravitational PE converted to heatDisk radiates asmulti-temperature blackbodyT(r) ∝ r⁻³ᐟ⁴Luminosity approachesEddington limit L_Edd?Standard thin disk(Shakura–Sunyaev)Radiation pressure dominates:disk puffs up geometrically thickPhoton trapping:radiation advected inward with flowStrong radiatively-drivenwinds/outflows launchedL ≪ L_EddL ≳ L_Edd

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