Global Calculations of Density Waves and Gap Formation in Protoplanetary Disks using a Moving Mesh

TL;DR

This paper presents high-resolution, moving mesh simulations of protoplanetary disks to analyze density wave propagation and gap formation caused by low-mass planets, improving accuracy and computational efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a moving mesh method for global disk simulations, enabling precise modeling of density waves and gap formation in protoplanetary disks.

Findings

Accurate calculation of angular momentum flux and torque density.

Confirmation of analytical predictions for low-mass planet effects.

Demonstration of quasi-steady state after 100 orbits.

Abstract

We calculate the global quasi-steady state of a thin disk perturbed by a low-mass protoplanet orbiting at a fixed radius using extremely high-resolution numerical integrations of Euler's equations in two dimensions. The calculations are carried out using a moving computational domain, which greatly reduces advection errors and allows for much longer time-steps than a fixed grid. We calculate the angular momentum flux and the torque density as a function of radius and compare them with analytical predictions. We discuss the quasi-steady state after 100 orbits and the prospects for gap formation by low mass planets.