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Kalyaan, A., Pinilla, P., Krijt, S., Banzatti, A., Rosotti, G., Mulders, G. D., et al. (2023). The Effect of Dust Evolution and Traps on Inner Disk Water Enrichment. Astrophys. J., 954(1), 66.
Abstract: Substructures in protoplanetary disks can act as dust traps that shape the radial distribution of pebbles. By blocking the passage of pebbles, the presence of gaps in disks may have a profound effect on pebble delivery into the inner disk, crucial for the formation of inner planets via pebble accretion. This process can also affect the delivery of volatiles (such as H2O) and their abundance within the water snow line region (within a few au). In this study, we aim to understand what effect the presence of gaps in the outer gas disk may have on water vapor enrichment in the inner disk. Building on previous work, we employ a volatile-inclusive disk evolution model that considers an evolving ice-bearing drifting dust population, sensitive to dust traps, which loses its icy content to sublimation upon reaching the snow line. We find that the vapor abundance in the inner disk is strongly affected by the fragmentation velocity (v( f)) and turbulence, which control how intense vapor enrichment from pebble delivery is, if present, and how long it may last. Generally, for disks with low to moderate turbulence (a = 1 x 10(-3)) and a range of v( f), radial locations and gap depths (especially those of the innermost gaps) can significantly alter enrichment. Shallow inner gaps may continuously leak material from beyond it, despite the presence of additional deep outer gaps. We finally find that for realistic v( f) (=10 m s(-1)), the presence of gaps is more important than planetesimal formation beyond the snow line in regulating pebble and volatile delivery into the inner disk.
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Kalyaan, A., Pinilla, P., Krijt, S., Mulders, G. D., & Banzatti, A. (2021). Linking Outer Disk Pebble Dynamics and Gaps to Inner Disk Water Enrichment. Astrophys. J., 921(1), 84.
Abstract: Millimeter continuum imaging of protoplanetary disks reveals the distribution of solid particles and the presence of substructures (gaps and rings) beyond 5-10 au, while infrared (IR) spectra provide access to abundances of gaseous species at smaller disk radii. Building on recent observational findings of an anti-correlation between the inner disk water luminosity and outer dust disk radius, we aim here at investigating the dynamics of icy solids that drift from the outer disk and sublimate their ice inside the snow line, enriching the water vapor that is observed in the IR. We use a volatile-inclusive disk evolution model to explore a range of conditions (gap location, particle size, disk mass, and alpha viscosity) under which gaps in the outer disk efficiently block the inward drift of icy solids. We find that inner disk vapor enrichment is highly sensitive to the location of a disk gap, yielding for each particle size a radial “sweet spot” that reduces the inner disk vapor enrichment to a minimum. For pebbles of 1-10 mm in size, which carry the most mass, this sweet spot is at 7-15 au, suggesting that inner gaps may have a key role in reducing ice delivery to the inner disk and may not allow the formation of Earths and super-Earths. This highlights the importance of observationally determining the presence and properties of inner gaps in disks. Finally, we argue that the inner water vapor abundance can be used as a proxy for estimating the pebble drift efficiency and mass flux entering the inner disk.
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van der Marel, N., Bosman, A. D., Krijt, S., Mulders, G. D., & Bergner, J. B. (2021). If you like C/O variations, you should have put a ring on it. Astron. Astrophys., 653, L9.
Abstract: Context. The C/O ratio as traced with C2H emission in protoplanetary disks is fundamental for constraining the formation mechanisms of exoplanets and for our understanding of volatile depletion in disks, but current C2H observations show an apparent bimodal distribution that is not well understood, indicating that the C/O distribution is not described by a simple radial dependence. Aims. The transport of icy pebbles has been suggested to alter the local elemental abundances in protoplanetary disks through settling, drift, and trapping in pressure bumps, resulting in a depletion of volatiles in the surface layer and an increase in the elemental C/O. Methods. We combine all disks with spatially resolved ALMA C2H observations with high-resolution continuum images and constraints on the CO snow line to determine if the C2H emission is indeed related to the location of the icy pebbles. Results. We report a possible correlation between the presence of a significant CO-ice dust reservoir and high C2H emission, which is only found in disks with dust rings outside the CO snow line. In contrast, compact dust disks (without pressure bumps) and warm transition disks (with their dust ring inside the CO snow line) are not detected in C2H, suggesting that such disks may have never contained a significant CO ice reservoir. Conclusions. This correlation provides evidence for the regulation of the C/O profile by the complex interplay of CO snow line and pressure bump locations in the disk. These results demonstrate the importance of including dust transport in chemical disk models for a proper interpretation of exoplanet atmospheric compositions and a better understanding of volatile depletion in disks, in particular the use of CO isotopologs to determine gas surface densities.
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