Protoplanetary Disk Masses from Stars to Brown Dwarfs

TL;DR

This study uses submillimeter observations to analyze disk masses around stars and brown dwarfs, revealing trends in disk size, mass, and grain growth, with implications for planet formation across different stellar masses.

Contribution

It provides new, deeper submillimeter data for low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, and investigates disk properties and grain growth trends across various stellar types.

Findings

Disk outer radius is at least 100 AU for stars and 20 AU for brown dwarfs.

Disk mass upper envelope increases with stellar mass from BDs to VLMS but not beyond.

Large grains are common in disks around Taurus and rho Oph stars, indicating grain growth.

Abstract

We present SCUBA-2 850um observations for 7 very low mass stars (VLMS) and brown dwarfs (BDs): 3 in Taurus, 4 in the TWA, and all classical T Tauri (cTT) analogs. We detect 2 of the 3 Taurus disks, but none of the TWA ones. Our 3sigma limits correspond to a dust mass of 1.2 MEarth in Taurus and a mere 0.2 MEarth in the TWA (3--10x deeper than previous work). We combine our data with other sub-mm/mm surveys of Taurus, rho Oph and the TWA to investigate trends in disk mass and grain growth during the cTT phase. We find : (1) The minimum disk outer radius required to explain the upper envelope of sub-mm/mm fluxes is 100 AU for intermediate-mass stars, solar-types and VLMS, and 20 AU for BDs. (2) While the upper envelope of disk masses increases with Mstar from BDs to VLMS to solar-types, no increase is seen from solar-type to intermediate-mass stars. We propose this is due to enhanced photoevaporation around intermediate masses. (3) Many disks around Taurus and rho Oph intermediate-mass and solar-type stars evince an opacity index beta of 0--1, indicating large grains. Of the only four VLMS/BDs in these regions with multi-wavelength data, three are consistent with large grains, though optically thick disks are not ruled out. (4) For the TWA VLMS (TWA 30A, B), combining our fluxes with Mdot and ages suggests substantial grain growth by 10 Myr. The degree of grain growth in the TWA BDs (2M1207A, SSPM1102) remains largely unknown. (5) A Bayesian analysis shows that mean(log[Mdisk/Mstar]) = -2.4, roughly constant all the way from intermediate-mass stars to VLMS/BDs, and (6) the disk mass in close solar-type Taurus binaries is significantly lower than in singles (by a factor of 10), while that in wide solar-type Taurus binaries is closer to that in singles (lower by a factor of 3). (7) We discuss the implications for planet formation, and for the dependence of Mdot on Mstar.