  Long-term homogeneous photometry for 35 classical T Tauri stars (cTTS) in the
Taurus-Auriga star-forming region (Tau-Aur SFR) has been analyzed. Reliable
effective temperatures, interstellar extinctions, luminosities, radii, masses,
and ages have been determined for these cTTS. The physical parameters and
evolutionary status of 35 cTTS from this work and 34 weak-line T Tauri stars
(wTTS) from previous studies have been compared. The luminosities, radii, and
rotation periods of low-mass (0.3-1.1 Msun) cTTS are shown to be, on average,
greater than those of low-mass wTTS, in good agreement with the evolutionary
status of these two subgroups. The mean age of the younger subgroup of wTTS
from our sample (2.3 Myr) essentially coincides with the mean duration of the
protoplanetary disk accretion phase (2.3 Myr) for a representative sample of
low-mass stars in seven young stellar clusters. The accretion disk dissipation
time scale for the younger subgroup of cTTS (age less 4 Myr) in the Tau-Aur SFR
is shown to be no greater than 0.4 Myr, in good agreement with the short
protoplanetary disk dissipation time scale that is predicted by present-day
protoplanetary disk evolution models.

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics