Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 61 1 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The required pressure integral uses . With and ,The vertically averaged alpha closure for a mixed-pressure layer therefore givesThe height-integrated dynamic viscosity is . Equate it to to obtainThese are integrated equalities, not an imposed pointwise relation .
Now keep , the opacity and molecular constants independent of radius, and use Keplerian rotation . In the gas-dominated limit, but positive, the last equality gives . The column-density relation gives . Eliminating yields , whenceThis is the gas-pressure branch of a mixed-pressure alpha disk. In the radiation-dominated limit, , so andFor viscous stability of an accretion disk, linearize the Keplerian viscous diffusion equation at fixed radius: a local mass density perturbation has diffusion coefficient . The gas branch has and a positive derivative, so it smooths perturbations. The radiation branch has and a negative derivative, giving radiation-pressure viscous instability. The gas-pressure branch is viscously stable; the radiation-pressure branch is viscously unstable in this closure. This concerns radial mass-transport stability on wavelengths where the vertically averaged thin-disc model applies.