Toward A General Theory of Grain Alignment and Disruption by Radiative Torques and Magnetic Relaxation

Thiem Hoang

Published 2025-05-04Version 1

We generalize the magnetically enhanced radiative torque (MRAT) alignment theory for general astrophysical environments described by a dimensionless parameter $U/(n_{1}T_{2})$ with $U$ local radiation strength, $n_{1}=n_{\rm H}/(10{\rm cm}^{-3})$ the hydrogen density, and $T_{2}=T_{\rm gas}/100{\rm K}$ the gas temperature. We first derive the critical magnetic relaxation $\delta_{\rm mag,cri}$ required to produce high-J attractors for different RAT models and local conditions and find that $\delta_{\rm mag,cri}$ must be larger for stronger radiation fields. We then numerically study the grain alignment and rotational disruption by the MRAT mechanism taking into account gas collisions and magnetic fluctuations. We find that, for the collision-dominated (CD) regime ($U/(n_{1}T_{2})\leq 1$), collisional and magnetic excitations can slowly transport large grains from low-J rotation to high-J attractors, leading to the perfect {\it slow alignment} within $\sim 10-100$ damping times due to MRATs. However, for the radiation-dominated (RD) regime ($U/(n_{1}T_{2})>1$), only a fraction of grains can be fast aligned at high-J attractors by MRATs, and the majority of grains are trapped at low-J rotation due to strong radiative torques, a new effect we term {\it radiative torque (RAT) trapping}. For extreme radiation fields of $U/(n_{1}T_{2})>10^{4}$, the efficiency of magnetic relaxation on grain alignment is suppressed, and grains only have fast alignment and disruption purely determined by RATs. We quantified the fraction of grains with fast alignment at high-J attractors, $f_{\rm high-J}^{\rm fast}$, for different RAT models, magnetic relaxation, and $U/(n_{1}T_{2})$, and found that the maximum $f_{\rm high-J}^{\rm fast}$ can reach $45\%$ by MRATs and $22\%$ by RATs.