Structure of the Solar Nebula, Growth and Decay of Magnetic Fields and Effects of Magnetic and Turbulent Viscosities on the Nebula

Abstract

First, distributions of surface densities of dust materials and gases in a preplanetary solar nebula, which give a good fit to the distribution of the planetary mass, are presented and the over-all structure of this nebula, which is in thermal and gravitational equilibrium, is studied. Second, in order to see magnetic effect on the structure, electric conductivity of a gas ionized by cosmic rays and radioactivities contained in dust grains is estimated for each region of the nebula and, then, the growth and decay of seed magnetic fields, which are due to differential rotation of the nebula and to the Joule dissipation, respectively, are calculated. The results indicate that, in regions of the terrestrial planets, magnetic fields decay much faster than they grow and magnetic effects can be ignored, except for the outermost layers of very low density. This is not the case for regions of Uranus and Neptune where magnetic fields can be amplified to considerable extents. Third, the transport of angular momentum due to magnetic and mechanical turbulent viscosities and the resultant redistribution of surface density in the nebula are investigated. The results show that the density redistribution occurs, in general, in a direction to attain a distribution of surface density which has nearly the same r-dependence as that obtained from the present distribution of the planetary mass. This redistribution seems to be possible if it occurs at a formation stage of the nebula where the presence of large viscosities is expected. Finally, a comment is given on the initial condition of a collapsing interstellar cloud from which the solar nebula is formed at the end of the collapse.