X-ray emission from dense plasma in classical T Tauri stars: hydrodynamic modeling of the accretion shock

Context: High spectral resolution X-ray observations of classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs) demonstrate the presence of plasma at temperature T∼ 2-3× 10⁶ K and density n_e∼ 10¹¹-10¹³ cm^-3, which are unobserved in non-accreting stars. Stationary models suggest that this emission is due to shock-heated accreting material, but do not allow us to analyze the stability of the material and its position in the stellar atmosphere.
Aims: We investigate the dynamics and stability of shock-heated accreting material in classical T Tauri stars and the role of the stellar chromosphere in determining the position and thickness of the shocked region.
Methods: We perform one-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the impact of an accretion flow on the chromosphere of a CTTS, including the effects of gravity, radiative losses from optically thin plasma, thermal conduction and a well tested detailed model of the stellar chromosphere. We present the results of a simulation based on the parameters of the CTTS MP Mus.
Results: We find that the accretion shock generates an hot slab of material above the chromosphere with a maximum thickness of 1.8 × 10⁹ cm, density n_e∼ 10¹¹-10¹² cm^-3, temperature T∼ 3× 10⁶ K, and uniform pressure equal to the ram pressure of the accretion flow (~450 dyn cm^-2). The base of the shocked region penetrates the chromosphere and remains at a position at which the ram pressure is equal to the thermal pressure. The system evolves with quasi-periodic instabilities of the material in the slab leading to cyclic disappearance and re-formation of the slab. For an accretion rate of ~10^-10~M_⊙ yr^-1, the shocked region emits a time-averaged X-ray luminosity of L_X≈ 7× 10²⁹ erg s^-1, which is comparable with the X-ray luminosity observed in CTTSs of identical mass. Furthermore, the X-ray spectrum synthesized from the simulation reproduces in detail all the main features of the O VIII and O VII lines of the star MP Mus.