  The leading theory for the formation of the Earth's moon invokes a collision
between a Mars-sized body and the proto-Earth to produce a disk of orbiting
material that later condenses to form the Moon. Here we study the early
evolution of the protolunar disk. First, we show that the disk opacity is large
and cooling is therefore inefficient (t_{cool} \Omega >> 1). In this regime
angular momentum transport in the disk leads to steady heating unless \alpha <
(t_{cool} \Omega)^{-1} << 1. Following earlier work by Charnoz and Michaut, and
Carballido et al., we show that once the disk is completely vaporized it is
well coupled to the magnetic field. We consider a scenario in which turbulence
driven by magnetic fields leads to a brief, hot phase where the disk is
geometrically thick, wit h strong turbulent mixing. The disk cools by spreading
until it decouples from the field. We point out that approximately half the
accretion energy is dissipated in the boundary layer where the disk meets the
Earth's surface. This creates high entropy material close to the Earth, driving
convection and mixing. Finally, a hot, magnetized disk could drive bipolar
outflows that remove mass and angular momentum from the Earth-Moon system.
