Stability of radiation-pressure dominated disks

We derive and investigate the dispersion relation for accretion disks with retarded or advanced heating. We follow the α-prescription but allow for a time offset τ between heating and pressure perturbations, as well as for a diminished response of heating to pressure variations. We study in detail solutions of the dispersion relation for disks with radiation-pressure fraction, 1 − β, and ξ, the ratio of viscous stress response to pressure perturbations. For τ < 0 (advanced heating) the number and sign of real solutions for the growth rate depend on the values of τ, and ξ: if the magnitude of τ is larger than a critical value (e.g., more than twice the thermal time, −τ > 2 τth, for β = 0 and ξ = 1) two real solutions exist, which are both negative. These results imply that radiation-pressure dominated accretion disks may be stabilized when there is a time delay between stress fluctuations and fluctuations in heating.