In order to understand which mechanism is responsible for accretion in protoplanetary discs, a robust knowledge of the observed disc radius using gas tracers such as (CO)-C-12 and other CO isotopologues is pivotal. Indeed, the two main theories proposed, viscous accretion and wind-driven accretion, predict different time evolution for the disc radii. In this letter, we present an analytical solution for the evolution of the disc radii in viscously evolving protoplanetary discs using (CO)-C-12 as a tracer, under the assumption that the (CO)-C-12 radius is the radius where the surface density of the disc is equal to the threshold for CO photodissociation. We discuss the properties of the solution and the limits of its applicability as a simple numerical prescription to evaluate the observed disc radii of populations of discs. Our results suggest that, in addition to photodissociation, also freeze out plays an important role in setting the disc size. We find an effective reduction of the CO abundance by about two orders of magnitude at the location of CO photodissociation, which, however, should not be interpreted as the bulk abundance of CO in the disc. The use of our analytical solution will allow to compute disc sizes for large quantities of models without using expensive computational resources such as radiative transfer calculations.

An analytical solution to measure the gas size in protoplanetary discs in the viscous self-similar scenario / C. Toci, G. Lodato, F. Gerardo Livio, G.P. Rosotti, L. Trapman. - In: MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. LETTERS. - ISSN 1745-3925. - 518:1(2023 Jan), pp. L69-L74. [10.1093/mnrasl/slac137]

An analytical solution to measure the gas size in protoplanetary discs in the viscous self-similar scenario

C. Toci
Primo
;
G. Lodato
Secondo
;
G.P. Rosotti
Penultimo
;
2023

Abstract

In order to understand which mechanism is responsible for accretion in protoplanetary discs, a robust knowledge of the observed disc radius using gas tracers such as (CO)-C-12 and other CO isotopologues is pivotal. Indeed, the two main theories proposed, viscous accretion and wind-driven accretion, predict different time evolution for the disc radii. In this letter, we present an analytical solution for the evolution of the disc radii in viscously evolving protoplanetary discs using (CO)-C-12 as a tracer, under the assumption that the (CO)-C-12 radius is the radius where the surface density of the disc is equal to the threshold for CO photodissociation. We discuss the properties of the solution and the limits of its applicability as a simple numerical prescription to evaluate the observed disc radii of populations of discs. Our results suggest that, in addition to photodissociation, also freeze out plays an important role in setting the disc size. We find an effective reduction of the CO abundance by about two orders of magnitude at the location of CO photodissociation, which, however, should not be interpreted as the bulk abundance of CO in the disc. The use of our analytical solution will allow to compute disc sizes for large quantities of models without using expensive computational resources such as radiative transfer calculations.
ccretion, accretion discs; planets and satellites: formation; protoplanetary discs;
Settore FIS/05 - Astronomia e Astrofisica
   Rebuilding the foundations of planet formation: proto-planetary disc evolution (DiscEvol)
   DiscEvol
   EUROPEAN COMMISSION
   101039651
gen-2023
29-ott-2022
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/951554
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