# Disc instability models, evaporation and radius variations

## Abstract

We show that the outcome of disc instability models is strongly influenced by boundary conditions such as the position of the inner and outer disc edges. We discuss other sources of uncertainties, such as the tidal torque, and we conclude that disc illumination, disk size variations and a proper prescription for the tidal torque must be included in models if one wishes to extract meaningful physical information on e.g. viscosity from the comparison of predicted and observed lightcurves.

## 1. Introduction

The bases of the thermal-viscous accretion disc instability have been established 25 years ago (see Smak in these proceedings for an historical overview), and despite the successes of this model in explaining dwarf nova (DN) outbursts and, to a lesser extent, soft X-ray transients (SXTs), there are still a number of observational facts that conflict the predictions of the standard version of the model. One can mention, for example, the detection of a very significant quiescent X-ray flux in both DNs and SXTs at a level that exceeds theoretical predictions by up to six orders of magnitude (Lasota, 1996). One could also quote the existence of steady bright X-ray sources which should be unstable, or of ER UMa systems in which the supercycle appears to be too short to be accounted for by the tidal-thermal instability model. Finally, one should mention the fact with physically plausible parameters most authors produce light curves (often not published) that bear no resemblance whatsoever to any observed one.

Some of these discrepancies have already received an explanation : the X-ray detection of systems in quiescence requires the inner disc radius be larger than that of the compact object as a result of either evaporation or of the presence of a magnetosphere; the stability of the accretion disc in bright X-ray sources is influenced by illumination from the central X-ray source. Other remain, such as the difficulty of reproducing similar peak luminosities in systems exhibiting various outbursts shapes. One should also keep in mind that, despite recent progress, the very nature of viscosity in accretion discs remains largely unknown and that the $`\alpha `$ prescription is a mere parameterization of our ignorance. It is thus extremely important to disentangle numerical and physical effects when modeling accretion discs if one wishes to infer a refined viscosity prescription from observations of accretion disc outbursts.

In this paper, we describe our code, giving its advantages and limitations; we then discuss the influence of physical effects such as variations of the inner and outer disc radius. We show that all these effects (adding irradiation) must be accounted for; these might play a major role in superoutburtsts of SU UMa and ER UMa systems.

## 2. Numerical modeling

### 2.1. Basics

The numerical code used here is described in detail in Hameury et al. (1998), and we recall briefly here its main characteristics. We solve the standard mass continuity and angular momentum conservation equation of a geometrically thin Keplerian disc, in which we take into account the tidal torque, assumed to be of the form (Smak 1984; Papaloizou & Pringle 1977):

$$T_{\mathrm{tidal}}=c\omega r\nu \mathrm{\Sigma }\left(\frac{r}{a}\right)^5$$
(1)   
where $`\omega `$ is the angular velocity of the binary motion, $`r`$ the distance to the compact object, $`\nu `$ the viscosity, $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ the surface density in the disc, and $`a`$ the orbital separation. The constant $`c`$ is a free parameter that is taken such as to give the required average outer disc radius. The thermal equation is taken from Cannizzo (1993):

$$\frac{T_\mathrm{c}}{t}=\frac{2(Q^+Q^{}+J)}{C_P\mathrm{\Sigma }}\frac{\mathrm{}T_\mathrm{c}}{\mu C_P}\frac{1}{r}\frac{(rv_\mathrm{r})}{r}v_\mathrm{r}\frac{T_\mathrm{c}}{r},$$
(2)   
where $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ is the central disc temperature, $`Q^+`$ and $`Q^{}`$ are the surface heating and cooling rates respectively, $`C_P`$ is the heat capacity at constant pressure, $`v_\mathrm{r}`$ is the radial velocity and $`J`$ is a radial energy flux which we assume here to be carried by turbulent eddies, and which takes the form:

$$J=1/r/r(r\frac{3}{2}\nu C_P\mathrm{\Sigma }\frac{T_\mathrm{c}}{r}).$$
(3)   
The boundary conditions for the energy equation are unimportant as this equation is dominated by the $`Q^+`$ and $`Q^{}`$ terms except in the transition fronts; we take $`T/r=0`$ to minimize numerical problems. We have as usual $`\mathrm{\Sigma }=0`$ at the inner edge, and we assume that matter is added at the very outer edge, whose position $`r_{\mathrm{out}}`$ is not specified, which gives two conditions at the outer edge:

$$\dot{M}_{\mathrm{tr}}=2\pi r\mathrm{\Sigma }(\dot{r}_{\mathrm{out}}v)$$
(4)   
and

$$\dot{M}_{\mathrm{tr}}\left[1\left(\frac{r_\mathrm{k}}{r_{\mathrm{out}}}\right)^{1/2}\right]=3\pi \nu \mathrm{\Sigma },$$
(5)   
These equations with their boundary conditions are solved using a fully implicit code in which equations are discretized on an adaptative grid defined such as to resolve the temperature and density gradients. As a result, heating and cooling fronts are always resolved. Moreover, as the code is implicit, large time steps can be used, whatever the spatial resolution, contrary to explicit codes for which the time step has to be smaller than the thermal time ($`1/\alpha `$ times the dynamical time) at the inner edge. This allows us to cover a large number of cycles, so that the memory of the initial conditions has been lost.

The results obtained using this code do reproduce a number of dwarf nova outburst characteristics, such as the occurrence of inside-out outbursts for low mass transfer rate, and outside-in outbursts for larger values of $`\dot{M}_{\mathrm{tr}}`$. However, we also obtain small, inside-out, intermediate outbursts for high primary masses (i.e. low inner disc radius). Such weak outburst are not observed, which means that we might be missing an essential ingredient when modeling these outbursts.

### 2.2. Heating and cooling fronts

Because we use an adaptative grid, we are able to resolve both the heating and cooling fronts. We confirm (Menou, Hameury & Stehle 1998) that the propagation velocity of these fronts is of order of $`\alpha c_s`$, where $`c_s`$ is the sound speed in the hot gas, with heating fronts propagating more rapidly than cooling fronts. Moreover, whereas the general properties of cooling fronts do not vary from one outburst to the other, those of heating fronts depend sensitively upon the actual profile of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ as a function of $`r`$.

We find that the width $`w`$ of the heating and cooling fronts is proportional to the disc scale height $`h`$, contrary to Cannizzo, Chen & Livio (1995) who obtain $`w(hr)^{1/2}`$; we get the same order of magnitude, but a different radius dependence. $`w`$ is a few times $`h`$ for the heating fronts, and much larger for cooling fronts, so that the thin disc equations still apply.

We also confirm the self-similarity of the inner, hot disc during the cooling phase that was found by Vishniac (1997), but we describe this disc property in a slightly differentl way. $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is found to scale naturally with $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{min}}`$, the minimum value of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ on the hot upper branch in the $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$$`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ diagram. In this regime, as already noted by Vishniac (1997), the inner hot disc empties essentially by transferring matter to the outer disc that has returned to the cold state, and not by accretion onto the compact object. As a consequence, there is a density jump in the passage of a cooling front; in the self-similar regime, we find that $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{log}(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ is a constant. If this constant is larger than $`\mathrm{log}(\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{max}}/\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{min}})`$, where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{max}}`$ is the maximum density on the cool branch, self-similarity can never be reached, and reflares are obtained. This happens for high primary masses (a few M) typical of black hole X-ray transients, as well as in cases where the compact object is so hot that the inner portion is stabilized as a result of illumination, as proposed by King (1997). In this case, $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{max}}=\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{min}}`$ at the transition point between the hot inner disc and the outer disc that can be subject to the thermal-viscous instability, and many reflares are observed (Hameury, Lasota & Dubus, 1999).

## 3. Variations of the inner disc radius : evaporation, magnetospheres

Both dwarf novae and soft X-ray transients emit a significant flux in X-rays during quiescence (typically 10<sup>32</sup> erg s<sup>-1</sup> for SXTs, and more than 10<sup>30</sup> erg s<sup>-1</sup> for dwarf novae). As the whole disc must stay on the cool branch during quiescence, the local mass transfer rate $`\dot{M}`$ must be smaller than the critical value $`\dot{M}_{\mathrm{crit}}`$ above which this stable cool branch disappears:

$$\dot{M}<\dot{M}_{\mathrm{crit}}=4\times 10^{15}\alpha _\mathrm{c}^{0.04}M_1^{0.89}r_{10}^{2.67}\mathrm{g}\mathrm{s}^1$$
(6)   
where $`\alpha _\mathrm{c}`$ is the viscosity parameter on the cool branch, $`M_1`$ is the primary mass and $`r_{10}`$ is the radius in 10<sup>10</sup> cm. This can be written as a constraint on the inner radius $`r_{\mathrm{in}}`$:

$$r_{\mathrm{in}}>8\times 10^8\left(\frac{L_\mathrm{X}}{10^{32}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1}\right)^{0.38}\left(\frac{M_1}{\mathrm{M}_{}}\right)^{0.33}\left(\frac{\eta }{0.1}\right)^{0.38}\mathrm{cm}$$
(7)   
where $`\eta `$ is the efficiency of accretion; this is much larger than the neutron star radius or the radius of the innermost stable orbit for SXTs, and is also usually larger that the radius of the white dwarf in DNs.

Several mechanisms may cause the inner disc to be truncated; if the compact object is a magnetized white dwarf, the Alfvén radius exceeds that of the white dwarf in quiescence as soon as the magnetic moment of the white dwarf is larger than 10<sup>30</sup> Gcm<sup>3</sup>. Evaporation (see e.g. Meyer & Meyer-Hofmeister 1994; Liu, Meyer & Meyer-Hofmeister 1992) leading to winds or to the formation of an ADAF is also an attractive possibility, but evaporation rates are quite uncertain.

These mechanisms can be accounted for by either introducing a mass loss rate in the mass conservation equation, or by assuming that the inner disc radius is a specified function of the mass accretion rate onto the compact object; both prescriptions lead to qualitatively similar results. This differs a lot from a situation in which a hot, geometrically thin and optically thick disc would form close to the compact object as a result of e.g. illumination (King, 1997).

### 3.1. The case of WZ Sge

WZ Sge is a dwarf nova which exhibits long outbursts with a recurrence time of about 30 years. Such a long recurrence time, together with the fact that the amount of mass transferred during an outburst is large, requires a very small value of the viscosity parameter $`\alpha `$ (typically $`\alpha 10^510^3`$) in the framework of the standard model (Smak, 1993; Osaki, 1995; Meyer-Hofmeister, Meyer & Liu, 1998), but the reason for such a low $`\alpha `$ in this particular system is left unexplained.

Hameury, Lasota & Huré (1997a) proposed an alternative possibility with a “normal” value of $`\alpha `$ ($`\alpha =0.01`$) in which the inner part of the accretion disc is disrupted by either a magnetic field (Lasota, Kuulkers & Charles 1999) or evaporation, so that the disc is stable (or very close to being stable) in quiescence, as the mass transfer rate is very low and the disc can sit on the cool lower branch of the thermal equilibrium curve. Outbursts are triggered by an enhanced mass transfer which renders the disc unstable. The resulting outburst is strongly affected by the irradiation of the secondary star, as the effective temperature of the irradiated hemisphere is observed to reach 16,000 – 17,000 K at maximum, i.e. increases by a factor 10 with respect to quiescence. This results in a large increase of the mass transfer rate; a straightforward application of the formulae given in Hameury, King & Lasota (1986) shows that $`\dot{M}`$ can increase by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude, and be comparable to the mass accretion rate onto the white dwarf.

Numerical models in which one includes both evaporation (required by the long recurrence time) and illumination (required to account for the total amount of mass transferred) reproduce the overall light curve of WZ Sge.

### 3.2. The case of GRO J1655-40

GRO J1655-40 is a soft X-ray transient in which a 6 days delay between the rise to outburst of optical and X-rays was observed (Orosz et al. 1997). Hameury et al. (1997b) showed that the quiescent optical and X-rays observations of this source indicate the presence of an ADAF which extends to a radius of about 10<sup>10</sup> cm, with a mass transfer through the ADAF of a few times 10<sup>16</sup> g s<sup>-1</sup>.

Hameury et al. (1997b) also show that the presence of such an ADAF that disrupts the standard accretion disc in the vicinity of the black hole is also required to account for the X-ray delay and the optical rise of the outburst. If the disc were extending to the last stable orbit, one would expect inside-out outbursts that de not produce any X-ray delay at all. If on the other hand one assumes that the $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(r)`$ density profile in the disc is for some unspecified reason far from being relaxed, one could imagine that large amounts of matter accumulate at the outer edge, and that outside-in outbursts can occur. One can then reproduce the observed X-ray delay, but the disc brightens much too fast in optical.

### 3.3. The case of SS Cyg

Whereas the interpretation of UV delays relies on a precise modeling of the spectra of accretion discs, and hence on the way viscous heating is distributed vertically in the disc, EUV being emitted by the boundary layer can be directly translated into a mass accretion rate onto the compact object. EUVE observations of SS Cyg by Mauche (1996) showed that there can be a delay as large as 1 day between the EUV and the optical. Such a delay can be easily accounted for if the inner parts of the disc evaporate at a rate $`\dot{M}_{\mathrm{ev}}=1.5\times 10^{16}(r/10^9\mathrm{cm})^2`$ g s<sup>-1</sup> (Hameury et al., 1999), in contrast with what would happen if the sole effect of irradiation of the disc by the white dwarf were to heat it up. In the latter case, the EUV delay is indeed longer than in the standard case, but cannot be as long as one day; moreover, as mentioned earlier, reflares are inevitable.

## 4. Outer radius variations

Hameury et al. (1998) have shown that numerical codes in which the outer radius is allowed to vary produce results which are qualitatively different from those in which $`r_{\mathrm{out}}`$ is kept fixed. When $`r_{\mathrm{out}}`$ is kept fixed, one frequently obtains a large number of small outbursts between major ones; in addition, it is extremely difficult to get outside-in outbursts even for large mass transfer rates. The basic reasons for these differences are (i) the fact that during an outburst, matter is pushed at larger radius, implying a decrease of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ at the outer edge of the disc, so that the cooling wave starts earlier, and the disc is less depleted, and (2) the contraction of the disc in quiescence under the effect of the tidal torque, which causes an increase of the local mass transfer rate to values that can exceed the mass loss rate from the secondary. Both effects facilitate the accumulation of matter in the outer region of the disc, and hence lead to outside-in outbursts.

Such disc variations are observed during outburst cycles in dwarf novae, with a rapid rise during outburst and a slow contraction of $``$ 20% during decline. However, radius variations are given by the tidal torque $`T_{\mathrm{tidal}}(r)`$ for which no realistic analytic expression is available at present, in particular close to the 3:1 resonance radius. This uncertainty is particularly worrying for SU UMa systems, as $`T_{\mathrm{tidal}}(r)`$ is an essential ingredient of the tidal-thermal instability (Osaki 1996).

## 5. Conclusion

Disruption of the inner parts of the disc by either evaporation or by a magnetic field can easily account for the observed X-ray/EUV delays. Such holes in a disc are also required by X-ray observations of quiescent systems, and by the long term cycles that do not exhibit small inside-out outbursts that naturally appear when the inner radius of the disc is small. It also very important to let the outer radius of the disc vary, and one would require a better estimate of the tidal torque than presently available. Finally, illumination by both the compact object and by the disc itself are important, even in the case of cataclysmic variables. We show in Fig. 1 an example of light curves in which all these effects have been included; as can be seen, this curve is quite reminiscent of ER UMA systems, and has been obtained without assuming any tidal instability. This does not mean that the tidal-thermal instability model for superoutbursts is incorrect; it does imply that effects that have been neglected until now must be added in models.

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