Magnetospheric Accretion In Classical T Tauri Stars, In Protostars And Planets

The inner 0.1 AU around accreting T Tauri stars hold clues to many physical processes that characterize the early evolution of solar-type stars. The accretion-ejection connection takes place at least in part in this compact magnetized region around the central star, with the inner disk edge interacting with the star’s magnetosphere thus leading simultaneously to magnetically channeled accretion flows and to high velocity winds and outflows. The magnetic star-disk interaction is thought to have strong implications for the angular momentum evolution of the central system, the inner structure of the disk, and possibly for halting the migration of young planets close to the stellar surface. We review here the current status of magnetic field measurements in T Tauri stars, the recent modeling efforts of the magnetospheric accretion process, including both radiative transfer and multi-D numerical simulations, and summarize current evidence supporting the concept of magnetically-channeled accretion in young stars. We also discuss the limits of the models and highlight observational results which suggest that the star-disk interaction is a highly dynamical and time variable process in young stars. 1. THE MAGNETIC ACCRETION PARADIGM T Tauri stars are low-mass stars with an age of a fe