Dead zones in protostellar discs: the case of Jet Emitting Discs

TL;DR

This study investigates the ionisation structure of Jet Emitting Discs (JEDs) and finds they are unlikely to have dead zones, contrasting with Standard Accretion Discs, which impacts theories of planet formation and magnetic field dynamics.

Contribution

The paper extends dead zone analysis from standard accretion discs to Jet Emitting Discs using self-similar models, revealing higher ionisation levels in JEDs.

Findings

JEDs have a much higher ionisation degree than SADs.

Dead zones are unlikely in JEDs due to high ionisation.

Implications for planet formation and magnetic field advection in JED regions.

Abstract

Planet formation and migration in accretion discs is a very active topic. Among the many aspects related to that question, dead zones are of particular importance as they can influence both the formation and the migration of planetary embryos. The ionisation level in the disc is the key element in determining the existence and the location of the dead zone. This has been studied either within the Standard Accretion Disc (SAD) framework or using parametric discs. In this paper, we extend this study to the case of Jet Emitting Discs (JED), the structure of which strongly differ from SADs because of the new energy balance and angular momentum extraction imposed by the jets. We make use of the (r,z) density distributions provided by self-similar accretion-ejection models, along with the JED thermal structure derived in a previous paper, to create maps of the ionisation structure of JEDs. We compare the ionisation rates we obtain to the critical value required to trigger the magneto-rotational instability. It is found that JEDs have a much higher ionisation degree than SADs which renders very unlikely the presence of a dead zone in these discs. As JEDs are believed to occupy the inner regions of accretion discs, the extension of the dead zones published in the literature should be re-considered for systems in which a jet is present. Moreover, since JEDs require large scale magnetic fields close to equipartition, our findings raise again the question of magnetic field advection in circumstellar accretion discs.