Global hydromagnetic simulations of a planet embedded in a dead zone: gap opening, gas accretion and formation of a protoplanetary jet

TL;DR

This study uses advanced 3D hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic simulations to explore how magnetic fields and dead zones in protoplanetary disks influence planet formation, gap opening, and jet launching.

Contribution

It introduces comprehensive 3D MHD simulations with mesh refinement to analyze accretion, gap formation, and jet phenomena around embedded planets in magnetized disks with dead zones.

Findings

Magnetically induced gap opening activates dead zones and causes stochastic accretion.

Formation of a variable circumplanetary disk with high surface density.

Detection of magnetocentrifugal outflows and collimated jets from the CPD.

Abstract

We present global hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations with mesh refinement of accreting planets embedded in protoplanetary disks (PPDs). The magnetized disk includes Ohmic resistivity that depends on the overlying mass column, leading to turbulent surface layers and a dead zone near the midplane. The main results are: (i) The accretion flow in the Hill sphere is intrinsically 3D for hydrodynamic and MHD models. Net inflow toward the planet is dominated by high latitude flows. A circumplanetary disk (CPD) forms. Its midplane flows outward in a pattern whose details differ between models. (ii) Gap opening magnetically couples and ignites the dead zone near the planet, leading to stochastic accretion, a quasi-turbulent flow in the Hill sphere and a CPD whose structure displays high levels of variability. (iii) Advection of magnetized gas onto the rotating CPD generates helical fields that launch magnetocentrifugally driven outflows. During one specific epoch a highly collimated, one-sided jet is observed. (iv) The CPD's surface density $\sim30{\rm\,g\,cm^{-2}}$, small enough for significant ionization and turbulence to develop. (v) The accretion rate onto the planet in the MHD simulation reaches a steady value $8 \times 10^{-3} {\rm M_\oplus yr^{-1}}$, and is similar in the viscous hydrodynamic runs. Our results suggest that gas accretion onto a forming giant planet within a magnetized PPD with dead zone allows rapid growth from Saturnian to Jovian masses. As well as being relevant for giant planet formation, these results have important implications for the formation of regular satellites around gas giant planets.