Constraints on the formation and evolution of circumstellar disks in rotating magnetized cloud cores

We use magnetic collapse models to place some constraints on the formation and angular momentum evolution of circumstellar disks that are embedded in magnetized cloud cores. Previous models have shown that the early evolution of a magnetized cloud core is governed by ambipolar diffusion and magnetic braking, and that the core takes the form of a nonequilibrium flattened envelope that ultimately collapses dynamically to form a protostar. In this paper, we focus on the inner centrifugally supported disk, which is formed only after a central protostar exists, and grows by dynamical accretion from the flattened envelope. We estimate a centrifugal radius for the collapse of mass shells within a rotating, magnetized cloud core. The centrifugal radius of the inner disk is related to its mass through two important parameters characterizing the background medium: the background rotation rate Omega(b), and the background magnetic field strength B(ref). We also revisit the issue of how rapidly mass is deposited onto the disk (the mass accretion rate) and use several recent models to comment upon the likely outcome in magnetized cores. Our model predicts that a significant centrifugal disk (much larger than a stellar radius) will be present in the very early (class 0) stage of protostellar evolution. Additionally, we derive an upper limit for the disk radius as it evolves owing to internal torques, under the assumption that the star-disk system conserves its mass and angular momentum even while most of the mass is transferred to a central star.