Planet gaps in the dust layer of 3D protoplanetary disks: I. Hydrodynamical simulations of T Tauri disks

TL;DR

This study uses 3D hydrodynamical simulations to explore how planets create gaps in the dust layer of protoplanetary disks, revealing that dust gaps are more prominent and can show observable asymmetries, especially with larger grains and more massive planets.

Contribution

First detailed 3D simulations of dust and gas interactions in protoplanetary disks showing dust gap structures differ from gas, highlighting observable features with ALMA.

Findings

Dust gaps are deeper and wider than gas gaps.

Larger grains and more massive planets produce more pronounced gaps.

Asymmetric dust structures can indicate disk-planet interactions.

Abstract

Context: While sub-micron- and micron-sized dust grains are generally well mixed with the gas phase in protoplanetary disks, larger grains will be partially decoupled and as a consequence have a different distribution from that of the gas. This has ramifications for predictions of the observability of protoplanetary disks, for which gas-only studies will provide an inaccurate picture. Specifically, criteria for gap opening in the presence of a planet have generally been studied for the gas phase, whereas the situation can be quite different in the dust layer once grains reach mm sizes, which is what will be observed by ALMA. Aims: We aim to investigate the formation and structure of a planetary gap in the dust layer of a protoplanetary disk with an embedded planet. Methods: We perform 3D, gas+dust SPH simulations of a protoplanetary disk with a planet on a fixed circular orbit at 40 AU to study the evolution of both the gas and dust distributions and densities in the disk. We run a series of simulations in which the planet mass and the dust grain size varies. Results: We show that the gap in the dust layer is more striking than in the gas phase and that it is deeper and wider for more massive planets as well as for larger grains. For a massive enough planet, we note that cm-sized grains remain inside the gap in corotation and that their population in the outer disk shows an asymmetric structure, a signature of disk-planet interactions even for a circular planetary orbit, which should be observable with ALMA.