New insight on Young Stellar Objects accretion shocks -- a claim for NLTE opacities

Abstract

Context. Accreted material onto CTTSs is expected to form a hot quasi-periodic plasma structure that radiates in X-rays. Simulations of this phenomenon only partly match with observations. They all rely on a static model for the chromosphere model and on the assumption that radiation and matter are decoupled. Aims. We explore the effects on the structure and on the dynamics of the accretion flow of both a shock-heated chromosphere and of the coupling between radiation and hydrodynamics. Methods. We simulate accretion columns falling onto a stellar chromosphere using the 1D ALE code AstroLabE. This code solves the hydrodynamics equations along with the two first momenta equations for radiation transfer, with the help of a dedicated opacity table for the coupling between matter and radiation. We derive the total electron and ions densities from collisional-radiative NLTE ionisation equilibrium. Results. The chromospheric acoustic heating has an impact on the duration of the cycle and on the structure of the heated slab. In addition, the coupling between radiation and hydrodynamics leads to a heating of the accretion flow and the chromosphere, inducing a possible unburial of the whole column. These two last conclusions are in agreement with the computed monochromatic intensity. Both effects (acoustic heating and radiation coupling) have an influence on the amplitude and temporal variations of the net X-ray luminosity, which varies between 30 and 94% of the incoming mechanical energy flux, depending on the model considered.

Non-LTE radiation hydrodynamics in PLUTO

“…The description of fluid motion in many astrophysical systems requires to consider the effects of radiation through its momentum and energy exchanges with matter, which are described by the radiation hydrodynamics (RHD) equations. Examples of relevant systems include, to name just a few, star formation structures (e.g., Krumholz et al 2009;Commerçon et al 2011a;Vaytet et al 2012Vaytet et al , 2013aDavis et al 2014;Skinner & Ostriker 2015;Raskutti et al 2016), protoplanetary discs (e.g., Flock et al 2013Flock et al , 2017, accretion flows around young stellar objects such as T Tauri stars (Costa et al 2017;Colombo et al 2019;de Sá et al 2019), accretion around black holes (e.g., Hirose et al 2009;Jiang et al 2014). In all these cases, radiation is coupled with matter from the dynamical and energetic points of view.…”