THE EFFECT OF THE RADIAL PRESSURE GRADIENT IN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS ON PLANETESIMAL FORMATION
The streaming instability provides a promising mechanism for planetesimal formation because of its ability to concentrate solids into dense clumps. The degree of clumping strongly depends on the height-integrated solid to gas mass ratio Z in protoplanetary disks. In this Letter, we show that the magnitude of the radial pressure gradient that drives the streaming instability (characterized by {Pi} {identical_to} {eta}v{sub K} /c{sub s} , where {eta}v{sub K} is the reduction of Keplerian velocity due to the radial pressure gradient and c{sub s} is the sound speed) also strongly affects clumping. We present local two-dimensional hybrid numerical simulations of aerodynamically coupled particles and gas in the midplane of protoplanetary disks. Magnetic fields and particle self-gravity are ignored. We explore three different radial pressure gradient values appropriate for typical protoplanetary disks: {Pi} = 0.025, 0.05, and 0.1. For each {Pi} value, we consider four different particle size distributions ranging from submillimeter to meter sizes and run simulations with solid abundance from Z = 0.01 up to Z = 0.07. We find that a small radial pressure gradient strongly promotes particle clumping in that: (1) at fixed particle size distribution, the critical solid abundance Z {sub crit} above which particle clumping occurs monotonically increases with {Pi} and (2) at fixed Z, strong clumping can occur for smaller particles when {Pi} is smaller. Therefore, we expect planetesimals to form preferentially in regions of protoplanetary disks with a small radial pressure gradient.
- OSTI ID:
- 21452731
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 722, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/722/2/L220; ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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