Evolution of Migrating Planets Undergoing Gas Accretion

TL;DR

This study uses hydrodynamic simulations to analyze how migrating planets grow in mass and move within protoplanetary disks, finding that their migration is generally slow and consistent with existing theories, with specific conditions leading to faster migration.

Contribution

The paper provides detailed simulation results on the evolution of gas-accreting, migrating planets, confirming standard migration theories and identifying conditions for rapid Type III migration.

Findings

Migration rates align with standard Type I and II theories.

Run-away gas accretion occurs within the planet's Bondi and Hill radii.

No evidence of fast Type III migration in typical models, but observed in specific massive, cold disks.

Abstract

We analyze the orbital and mass evolution of planets that undergo run-away gas accretion by means of 2D and 3D hydrodynamic simulations. The disk torque distribution per unit disk mass as a function of radius provides an important diagnostic for the nature of the disk-planet interactions. We first consider torque distributions for nonmigrating planets of fixed mass and show that there is general agreement with the expectations of resonance theory. We then present results of simulations for mass-gaining, migrating planets. For planets with an initial mass of 5 Earth masses, which are embedded in disks with standard parameters and which undergo run-away gas accretion to one Jupiter mass (Mjup), the torque distributions per unit disk mass are largely unaffected by migration and accretion for a given planet mass. The migration rates for these planets are in agreement with the predictions of the standard theory for planet migration (Type I and Type II migration). The planet mass growth occurs through gas capture within the planet's Bondi radius at lower planet masses, the Hill radius at intermediate planet masses, and through reduced accretion at higher planet masses due to gap formation. During run-away mass growth, a planet migrates inwards by only about 20% in radius before achieving a mass of ~1 Mjup. For the above models, we find no evidence of fast migration driven by coorbital torques, known as Type III migration. We do find evidence of Type III migration for a fixed mass planet of Saturn's mass that is immersed in a cold and massive disk. In this case the planet migration is assumed to begin before gap formation completes. The migration is understood through a model in which the torque is due to an asymmetry in density between trapped gas on the leading side of the planet and ambient gas on the trailing side of the planet.