Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/iii/paper-347/3/b/solution

For a Keplerian accretion disk, , so
Here is the dissipation summed over the two faces. The total luminosity is
This is the binding energy per unit mass of a circular orbit at the inner edge, multiplied by the accretion rate. The zero-torque inner boundary condition ensures that no additional mechanical work enters from smaller radii.
The luminosity emitted outside radius is
Writing , the condition becomes . Its physical root is , and hence
Half of a thin disk's luminosity therefore comes from only the innermost factor four in radius, so strong-gravity effects and the inner-boundary condition strongly influence its observed spectrum.

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