Corotation torques experienced by planets embedded in weakly magnetized turbulent discs

TL;DR

This study investigates how weakly magnetized MHD turbulence affects the corotation torque on embedded planets, finding that an unsaturated corotation torque persists similarly to viscous models, with an additional torque component.

Contribution

It demonstrates that in weakly magnetized turbulent discs, the corotation torque remains unsaturated and comparable to viscous models, revealing an additional torque component.

Findings

Unsaturated corotation torque persists in MHD turbulent discs.

Differential Lindblad torque values are similar in turbulent and viscous discs.

An additional corotation torque component exists in weakly magnetized discs.

Abstract

The migration of low-mass planets is driven by the differential Lindblad torque and the corotation torque in non-magnetic viscous models of protoplanetary discs. The corotation torque has recently received detailed attention as it may slow down, stall, or reverse migration. In laminar viscous disc models, the long-term evolution of the corotation torque is intimately related to viscous and thermal diffusion processes in the planet's horseshoe region. This paper examines the properties of the corotation torque in discs where MHD turbulence develops as a result of the magnetorotational instability, considering a weak initial toroidal magnetic field. We present results of 3D MHD simulations carried out with two different codes. Non-ideal MHD effects and the disc's vertical stratification are neglected, and locally isothermal disc models are considered. The running time-averaged torque exerted by the disc on a fixed planet is evaluated in three disc models. We first present results with an inner disc cavity (planet trap). As in viscous disc models, the planet is found to experience a positive running time-averaged torque over several hundred orbits, which highlights the existence of an unsaturated corotation torque maintained in the long term in MHD turbulent discs. Two disc models with initial power-law density and temperature profiles are also adopted, in which the time-averaged torque is found to be in decent agreement with its counterpart in laminar viscous disc models with similar viscosity at the planet location. Detailed analysis of the averaged torque density distributions indicates that the differential Lindblad torque takes very similar values in MHD turbulent and laminar viscous discs, and there exists an unsaturated corotation torque in MHD turbulent discs. This analysis also reveals the existence of an additional corotation torque in weakly magnetized discs.