2,080 research outputs found
KH15D: a star eclipsed by a large scale dusty vortex?
We propose that the large photometric variations of KH15D are due to an
eclipsing swarm of solid particles trapped in giant gaseous vortex rotating at
\~0.2 AU from the star. The efficiency of the capture-in-vortex mechanism
easily explains the observed large optical depth. The weaker opacity at
mid-eclipse is consistent with a size segregation of the particles toward the
center of the vortex. This dusty structure must extend over ~1/3 of an orbit to
account for the long eclipse duration. The estimated size of the trapped
particles is found to range from 1 to 10cm, consistent with the gray extinction
of the star. The observations of KH15D support the idea that giant vortices can
grow in circumstellar disks and play a central role in planet formation.Comment: Accepted in ApJ Letters - 4 pages - 2 figure
Large-scale Vortices in Protoplanetary Disks: On the observability of possible early stages of planet formation
We investigate the possibility of mapping large-scale anti-cyclonic vortices,
resulting from a global baroclinic instability, as pre-cursors of planet
formation in proto-planetary disks with the planned Atacama Large Millimeter
Array (ALMA). On the basis of three-dimensional radiative transfer simulations,
images of a hydrodynamically calculated disk are derived which provide the
basis for the simulation of ALMA. We find that ALMA will be able to trace the
theoretically predicted large-scale anti-cyclonic vortex and will therefore
allow testing of existing models of this very early stage of planet formation
in circumstellar disks.Comment: Accepted by ApJ (Letters section). A preprint version with
high-quality figures can be downloaded from
http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/swolf/homepage/public/preprints/
vortex.ps.g
The Formation and Role of Vortices in Protoplanetary Disks
We carry out a two-dimensional, compressible, simulation of a disk, including
dust particles, to study the formation and role of vortices in protoplanetary
disks. We find that anticyclonic vortices can form out of an initial random
perturbation of the vorticity field. Vortices have a typical decay time of the
order of 50 orbital periods (for a viscosity parameter alpha=0.0001 and a disk
aspect ratio of H/r = 0.15). If vorticity is continuously generated at a
constant rate in the flow (e.g. by convection), then a large vortex can form
and be sustained (due to the merger of vortices).
We find that dust concentrates in the cores of vortices within a few orbital
periods, when the drag parameter is of the order of the orbital frequency.
Also, the radial drift of the dust induces a significant increase in the
surface density of dust particles in the inner region of the disk. Thus,
vortices may represent the preferred location for planetesimal formation in
protoplanetary disks.
We show that it is very difficult for vortex mergers to sustain a relatively
coherent outward flux of angular momentum.Comment: Sumitted to the Astrophysical Journal, October 20, 199
Baroclinic Vorticity Production in Protoplanetary Disks; Part I: Vortex Formation
The formation of vortices in protoplanetary disks is explored via
pseudo-spectral numerical simulations of an anelastic-gas model. This model is
a coupled set of equations for vorticity and temperature in two dimensions
which includes baroclinic vorticity production and radiative cooling. Vortex
formation is unambiguously shown to be caused by baroclinicity because (1)
these simulations have zero initial perturbation vorticity and a nonzero
initial temperature distribution; and (2) turning off the baroclinic term halts
vortex formation, as shown by an immediate drop in kinetic energy and
vorticity. Vortex strength increases with: larger background temperature
gradients; warmer background temperatures; larger initial temperature
perturbations; higher Reynolds number; and higher resolution. In the
simulations presented here vortices form when the background temperatures are
and vary radially as , the initial vorticity
perturbations are zero, the initial temperature perturbations are 5% of the
background, and the Reynolds number is . A sensitivity study consisting
of 74 simulations showed that as resolution and Reynolds number increase,
vortices can form with smaller initial temperature perturbations, lower
background temperatures, and smaller background temperature gradients. For the
parameter ranges of these simulations, the disk is shown to be convectively
stable by the Solberg-H{\o}iland criteria.Comment: Originally submitted to The Astrophysical Journal April 3, 2006;
resubmitted November 3, 2006; accepted Dec 5, 200
Formation of Giant Planets by Concurrent Accretion of Solids and Gas inside an Anti-Cyclonic Vortex
We study the formation of a giant gas planet by the core--accretion
gas--capture process, with numerical simulations, under the assumption that the
planetary core forms in the center of an anti-cyclonic vortex. The presence of
the vortex concentrates particles of centimeter to meter size from the
surrounding disk, and speeds up the core formation process. Assuming that a
planet of Jupiter mass is forming at 5 AU from the star, the vortex enhancement
results in considerably shorter formation times than are found in standard
core--accretion gas--capture simulations. Also, formation of a gas giant is
possible in a disk with mass comparable to that of the minimum mass solar
nebula.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures, ApJ in pres
Protoplanetary Disk Turbulence Driven by the Streaming Instability: Non-Linear Saturation and Particle Concentration
We present simulations of the non-linear evolution of streaming instabilities
in protoplanetary disks. The two components of the disk, gas treated with grid
hydrodynamics and solids treated as superparticles, are mutually coupled by
drag forces. We find that the initially laminar equilibrium flow spontaneously
develops into turbulence in our unstratified local model. Marginally coupled
solids (that couple to the gas on a Keplerian time-scale) trigger an upward
cascade to large particle clumps with peak overdensities above 100. The clumps
evolve dynamically by losing material downstream to the radial drift flow while
receiving recycled material from upstream. Smaller, more tightly coupled solids
produce weaker turbulence with more transient overdensities on smaller length
scales. The net inward radial drift is decreased for marginally coupled
particles, whereas the tightly coupled particles migrate faster in the
saturated turbulent state. The turbulent diffusion of solid particles, measured
by their random walk, depends strongly on their stopping time and on the
solids-to-gas ratio of the background state, but diffusion is generally modest,
particularly for tightly coupled solids. Angular momentum transport is too weak
and of the wrong sign to influence stellar accretion. Self-gravity and
collisions will be needed to determine the relevance of particle overdensities
for planetesimal formation.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (17 pages). Movies of the simulations
can be downloaded at http://www.mpia.de/~johansen/research_en.ph
Dust sedimentation and self-sustained Kelvin-Helmholtz turbulence in protoplanetary disk mid-planes. I. Radially symmetric simulations
We perform numerical simulations of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in the
mid-plane of a protoplanetary disk. A two-dimensional corotating slice in the
azimuthal--vertical plane of the disk is considered where we include the
Coriolis force and the radial advection of the Keplerian rotation flow. Dust
grains, treated as individual particles, move under the influence of friction
with the gas, while the gas is treated as a compressible fluid. The friction
force from the dust grains on the gas leads to a vertical shear in the gas
rotation velocity. As the particles settle around the mid-plane due to gravity,
the shear increases, and eventually the flow becomes unstable to the
Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. The Kelvin-Helmholtz turbulence saturates when
the vertical settling of the dust is balanced by the turbulent diffusion away
from the mid-plane. The azimuthally averaged state of the self-sustained
Kelvin-Helmholtz turbulence is found to have a constant Richardson number in
the region around the mid-plane where the dust-to-gas ratio is significant.
Nevertheless the dust density has a strong non-axisymmetric component. We
identify a powerful clumping mechanism, caused by the dependence of the
rotation velocity of the dust grains on the dust-to-gas ratio, as the source of
the non-axisymmetry. Our simulations confirm recent findings that the critical
Richardson number for Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is around unity or larger,
rather than the classical value of 1/4Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. Some minor changes due to referee
report, most notably that the clumping mechanism has been identified as the
streaming instability of Youdin & Goodman (2005). Movies of the simulations
are still available at http://www.mpia.de/homes/johansen/research_en.ph
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