A New Look at T Tauri Star Forbidden Lines: MHD-driven Winds from the Inner Disk

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and photoevaporative winds are thought to play an important role in the evolution and dispersal of planet-forming disks. We report the first high-resolution (Δ v ∼ 6 km s −1 ) analysis of [S ii ] λ 4068, [O i ] λ 5577, and [O i ] λ 6300 lines from a sample of 48 T Tauri stars. Following Simon et al. we decompose them into three kinematic components: a high-velocity component (HVC) associated with jets, and low-velocity narrow (LVC-NC) and broad (LVC-BC) components. We confirm previous findings that many LVCs are blueshifted by more than 1.5 km s −1 and thus most likely trace a slow disk wind. We further show that the profiles of individual components are similar in the three lines. We find that most LVC-NC and LVC-BC line ratios are explained by thermally excited gas with temperatures between 5000 and 10,000 K and electron densities of ∼10 7 –10 8 cm −3 . The HVC ratios are better reproduced by shock models with a pre-shock H number density of ∼10 6 –10 7 cm −3 . Using these physical properties, we estimate ##IMG## [http://ej.iop.org/images/0004-637X/868/1/28/apjaae780ieqn1.gif] $\dotM_\mathrmwind/\dotM_\mathrmacc$ for the LVC and ##IMG## [http://ej.iop.org/images/0004-637X/868/1/28/apjaae780ieqn2.gif] $\dotM_\mathrmjet/\dotM_\mathrmacc$ for the HVC. In agreement with previous work, the mass carried out in jets is modest compared to the accretion rate. With the likely assumption that the LVC-NC wind height is larger than the LVC-BC, the LVC-BC ##IMG## [http://ej.iop.org/images/0004-637X/868/1/28/apjaae780ieqn3.gif] $\dotM_\mathrmwind/\dotM_\mathrmacc$ is found to be higher than the LVC-NC. These results suggest that most of the mass loss occurs close to the central star, within a few au, through an MHD-driven wind. Depending on the wind height, MHD winds might play a major role in the evolution of the disk mass