Browsing by Author "Jankovic, Marija R."
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- ItemA three-dimensional view of Gomez’s hamburgerTeague, Richard; Jankovic, Marija R.; Haworth, Thomas J.; Qi, Chunhua; Ilee, John D.Unravelling the three-dimensional physical structure, the temperature and density distribution, of protoplanetary discs is an essential step if we are to confront simulations of embedded planets or dynamical instabilities. In this paper, we focus on submillimeter array observations of the edge-on source, Gomez’s Hamburger, believed to host an overdensity hypothesized to be a product of gravitational instability in the disc, GoHam b. We demonstrate that, by leveraging the well-characterized rotation of a Keplerian disc to deproject observations of molecular lines in position-position-velocity space into disc-centric coordinates, we are able to map out the emission distribution in the (r,z) plane and (x,|y|,z) space. We show that 12CO traces an elevated layer of z/r∼0.3, while 13CO traces deeper in the disc at z/r≲0.2. We identify an azimuthal asymmetry in the deprojected 13CO emission coincident with GoHam b at a polar angle of ≈30○. At the spatial resolution of ∼1.5 arcsec, GoHam b is spatially unresolved, with an upper limit to its radius of <190 au.
- ItemInside-out Planet Formation. V. Structure of the Inner Disk as Implied by the MRIMohanty, Subhanjoy; Jankovic, Marija R.; Tan, Jonathan C.; Owen, James E.The ubiquity of Earth- to super-Earth-sized planets found very close to their host stars has motivated in situ formation models. In particular, inside-out planet formation is a scenario in which planets coalesce sequentially in the disk, at the local gas pressure maximum near the inner boundary of the dead zone. The pressure maximum arises from a decline in viscosity, going from the active innermost disk (where thermal ionization yields high viscosities via the magnetorotational instability [MRI]) to the adjacent dead zone (where the MRI is quenched). Previous studies of the pressure maximum, based on α-disk models, have assumed ad hoc values for the viscosity parameter α in the active zone, ignoring the detailed MRI physics. Here we explicitly couple the MRI criteria to the α-disk equations, to find steady-state solutions for the disk structure. We consider both Ohmic and ambipolar resistivities, a range of disk accretion rates (10−10–10−8 M⊙ yr−1), stellar masses (0.1–1 M⊙), and fiducial values of the non-MRI α-viscosity in the dead zone (αDZ = 10−5 to 10−3). We find that (1) a midplane pressure maximum forms radially outside the dead zone inner boundary; (2) Hall resistivity dominates near the inner disk midplane, perhaps explaining why close-in planets do not form in ∼50% of systems; (3) X-ray ionization can compete with thermal ionization in the inner disk, because of the low steady-state surface density there; and (4) our inner disks are viscously unstable to surface density perturbations.
- ItemMRI-active inner regions of protoplanetary discs – II. Dependence on dust, disc, and stellar parametersJankovic, Marija R.; Mohanty, Subhanjoy; Owen, James E.; Tan, Jonathan C.Close-in super-Earths are the most abundant exoplanets known. It has been hypothesized that they form in the inner regions of protoplanetary discs, out of the dust that may accumulate at the boundary between the inner region susceptible to the magneto-rotational instability (MRI) and an MRI-dead zone further out. In Paper I, we presented a model for the viscous inner disc which includes heating due to both irradiation and MRI-driven accretion; thermal and non-thermal ionization; dust opacities; and dust effects on ionization. Here, we examine how the inner disc structure varies with stellar, disc, and dust parameters. For high accretion rates and small dust grains, we find that: (1) the main sources of ionization are thermal ionization and thermionic and ion emission; (2) the disc features a hot, high-viscosity inner region, and a local gas pressure maximum at the outer edge of this region (in line with previous studies); and (3) an increase in the dust-to-gas ratio pushes the pressure maximum outwards. Consequently, dust can accumulate in such inner discs without suppressing the MRI, with the amount of accumulation depending on the viscosity in the MRI-dead regions. Conversely, for low accretion rates and large dust grains, there appears to be an additional steady-state solution in which: (1) stellar X-rays become the main source of ionization; (2) MRI-viscosity is high throughout the disc; and (3) the pressure maximum ceases to exist. Hence, if planets form in the inner disc, larger accretion rates (and thus younger discs) are favoured.
- ItemObserving substructure in circumstellar discs around massive young stellar objectsJankovic, Marija R.; Haworth, T. J.; Ilee, J. D.; Forgan, D. H.; Cyganowski, C. J.; Walsh, C.; Brogan, C. L.; Hunter, T. R.; Mohanty, S.Simulations of massive star formation predict the formation of discs with significant substructure, such as spiral arms and clumps due to fragmentation. Here, we present a semi-analytic framework for producing synthetic observations of discs with substructure, in order to determine their observability in interferometric observations. Unlike post-processing of hydrodynamical models, the speed inherent to our approach permits us to explore a large parameter space of star and disc parameters, and thus constrain properties for real observations. We compute synthetic dust continuum and molecular line observations probing different disc masses, distances, inclinations, thermal structures, dust distributions, and number and orientation of spirals and fragments. With appropriate spatial and kinematic filtering applied, our models predict that Atacama Large Millimetre Array observations of massive young stellar objects at <5 kpc distances should detect spirals in both gas and dust in strongly self-gravitating discs (i.e. discs with up to two spiral arms and strong kinematic perturbations). Detecting spirals will be possible in discs of arbitrary inclination, either by directly spatially resolving them for more face-on discs (inclinations up to similar to 50 deg), or through a kinematic signature otherwise. Clumps resulting from disc fragmentation should be detectable in the continuum, if the clump is sufficiently hotter than the surrounding disc material.
- ItemVertical evolution of exocometary gas – I. How vertical diffusion shortens the CO lifetimeMarino, S; Cataldi, G; Jankovic, Marija R.; Matrà, L; Wyatt, M C.Bright debris discs can contain large amounts of CO gas. This gas was thought to be a protoplanetary remnant until it was recently shown that it could be released in collisions of volatile-rich solids. As CO is released, interstellar UV radiation photodissociates CO producing CI, which can shield CO allowing a large CO mass to accumulate. However, this picture was challenged because CI is inefficient at shielding if CO and CI are vertically mixed. Here, we study for the first time the vertical evolution of gas to determine how vertical mixing affects the efficiency of shielding by CI. We present a 1D model that accounts for gas release, photodissociation, ionization, viscous evolution, and vertical mixing due to turbulent diffusion. We find that if the gas surface density is high and the vertical diffusion weak (αv/α < [H/r]2) CO photodissociates high above the mid-plane, forming an optically thick CI layer that shields the CO underneath. Conversely, if diffusion is strong (αv/α > [H/r]2) CI and CO become well mixed, shortening the CO lifetime. Moreover, diffusion could also limit the amount of dust settling. High-resolution ALMA observations could resolve the vertical distribution of CO and CI, and thus constrain vertical mixing and the efficiency of CI shielding. We also find that the CO and CI scale heights may not be good probes of the mean molecular weight, and thus composition, of the gas. Finally, we show that if mixing is strong the CO lifetime might not be long enough for CO to spread interior to the planetesimal belt where gas is produced.