Destruction of massive fragments in protostellar disks and crystalline silicate production

TL;DR

This paper proposes a mechanism where massive fragments in young protostellar disks produce crystalline silicates through annealing, and their destruction disperses this processed dust across various disk regions.

Contribution

It introduces a new model linking disk fragmentation, annealing of amorphous grains, and fragment destruction to explain crystalline silicate distribution in protostellar disks.

Findings

Fragments anneal grains at >800 K producing crystalline silicates.

Destruction of fragments releases crystalline dust into the disk.

Crystalline dust concentrates in inner regions and spiral arms.

Abstract

We present a mechanism for the crystalline silicate production associated with the formation and subsequent destruction of massive fragments in young protostellar disks. The fragments form in the embedded phase of star formation via disk fragmentation at radial distances \ga 50-100 AU and anneal small amorphous grains in their interior when the gas temperature exceeds the crystallization threshold of ~ 800 K. We demonstrate that fragments that form in the early embedded phase can be destroyed before they either form solid cores or vaporize dust grains, thus releasing the processed crystalline dust into various radial distances from sub-AU to hundred-AU scales. Two possible mechanisms for the destruction of fragments are the tidal disruption and photoevaporation as fragments migrate radially inward and approach the central star and also dispersal by tidal torques exerted by spiral arms. As a result, most of the crystalline dust concentrates to the disk inner regions and spiral arms, which are the likely sites of fragment destruction.