We investigate the effects of heating generated by damping of Alfven waves
on protostellar accretion disks. Two mechanisms of damping are investigated
, nonlinear and turbulent, which were previously studied in stellar winds.
For the nominal values studied, f = delta v/v(A) = 0.002 and F = (w) over b
ar/Omega(l) = 0.1, where delta v, v(A), and (w) over bar are the amplitude,
velocity, and average frequency of the Alfven wave, respectively, and Omeg
a(i) is the ion cyclotron frequency, we find that viscous heating is more i
mportant than Alfvenic heating for small radii. When the radius is greater
than 0.5 AU, Alfvenic heating is more important than viscous heating. Thus,
even for the relatively small value of f = 0.002, Alfvenic heating can be
an important source of energy for ionizing protostellar disks, enabling ang
ular momentum transport to occur by the Balbus-Hawley instability.