Low Mass Companions to T~Tauri Stars: a Mechanism for Rapid-rise FU~Orionis Outbursts

Abstract

We show that outside-in disc instabilities, which can produce rapid-\null rise FU Orionis outbursts in T~Tauri systems, are a natural consequence of the existence of protoplanetary protostellar companions. The \pcomp{} would be formed through gravitational instability on a dynamical timescale ($\sim 10^5\y$), and provided it was formed at less than a few \AU{}, it would be swept in to $\sim15\Rsun$ in less than $10^5\y$. A companion of mass $10^{-2}$\Msun at this radius would act as a flood gate which stores material upstream and periodically releases it following the ignition of the thermal ionisation instability.

To appear in MNRAS, 5 pages, uuencoded PostScript (figures included) also available at http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~syer/papers/

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