Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 321 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
In a steady state, mass conservation makes independent of radius. Taking the accretion rate for inward flow gives . The conservation of angular momentum equation then makes constant. The zero-torque inner boundary condition fixes this constant to , soThe viscous torque in an accretion disk is . Combining these expressions gives the steady accretion disk with arbitrary rotation lawFor , the Paczyński-Wiita circular orbit formulas giveConsequentlyIn particular, and far from the black hole, recovering the outer Keplerian accretion disk.
Inside the innermost stable circular orbit, the gas enters the plunging region of a black-hole accretion disk. Its rapid inward motion leaves little time for stresses to exchange angular momentum, motivating the zero-torque inner boundary condition. This is a thin-disc approximation; a strong magnetic stress could change it.
Matter supplied from very large radius has negligible specific orbital energy, while matter crossing the inner edge carries . With zero inner torque, no energy is supplied by a stress at that edge. If the heat released outside it escapes by radiative transfer, rather than being lost through inward advection, the integrated conservation of energy balance gives