The Effect of Binary Eccentricity on the Development of a Warp in a Protoplanetary Disk

Upon interaction with a non-spherically symmetric gravitational potential, such as that from a central misaligned binary, a protoplanetary disk experiences precessional torques leading to warps and even tears. Several low-viscosity simulations of misaligned protoplanetary discs were run with several values of binary eccentricity (e), along with a set of identical but aligned runs for comparison. In a wavelike protoplanetary disk the eccentricity was found to be a driving factor in the development of a warp, the amplitude of which increases with e.