Vertical structure of an astrophysical disk
ID: vertical-structure-of-an-astrophysical-disk
The vertical structure of an astrophysical disk describes how mass density, pressure and temperature vary away from its midplane. For a thin, centrally dominated gas layer, hydrostatic equilibrium gives . An isothermal ideal gas has , producing a Gaussian density profile with disk scale height . Disk self-gravity or magnetic support changes that balance.[ref]
Dynamics of Astrophysical Discs by Gordon I. Ogilvie. Lecture7, section7.1: vertical balance and isothermal solution
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