Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2022 / iii / Paper 321 / 1 / a

In the Toomre stability criterionthe disk's gravitational potential supplies the destabilizing attraction, gas pressure represented by $c_s$ suppresses short wavelengths, and the Keplerian shear represented by the angular frequency $\Omega$ prevents coherent collapse on long scales through epicyclic motion. Axisymmetric perturbations are stable for $Q>1$ and gravitationally unstable for $Q<1$.

The state $Q\sim 1$ is a self-regulating fixed point. If cooling lowers $c_s$ until $Q<1$, gravitational instability produces shocks and turbulence that heat the disk and raise its effective velocity dispersion. If $Q$ becomes appreciably larger than one, the instability and its heating switch off, while turbulent dissipation and radiative cooling reduce $c_s$. A sustained gravito-turbulent state therefore remains close to marginal stability.