  Planets form inside protostellar disks in a dead zone where the electrical
resistivity of the gas is too high for magnetic forces to drive turbulence. We
show that much of the dead zone nevertheless is active and flows toward the
star while smooth, large-scale magnetic fields transfer the orbital angular
momentum radially outward. Stellar X-ray and radionuclide ionization sustain a
weak coupling of the dead zone gas to the magnetic fields, despite the rapid
recombination of free charges on dust grains. Net radial magnetic fields are
generated in the magneto-rotational turbulence in the electrically conducting
top and bottom surface layers of the disk, and reach the midplane by Ohmic
diffusion. A toroidal component to the fields is produced near the midplane by
the orbital shear. The process is similar to the magnetization of the Solar
tachocline. The result is a laminar, magnetically-driven accretion flow in the
region where the planets form.
