Runaway gas accretion and gap opening versus type~I migration

TL;DR

This study investigates how growing planets transition from fast type I to slower type II migration by analyzing gap opening in protoplanetary discs through simulations, revealing that gas accretion accelerates gap formation.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the gap opening process during planet growth, especially how gas accretion influences the transition between migration types.

Findings

Growing planets always open gaps in the disc.

Planets in runaway gas accretion reach gap opening masses before migrating inward.

Gas accretion from the horseshoe region accelerates gap opening.

Abstract

Growing planets interact with their natal protoplanetary disc, which exerts a torque onto them allowing them to migrate in the disc. Small mass planets do not affect the gas profile and migrate in the fast type~I migration. Although type~I migration can be directed outwards for planets smaller than $20-30 M_\oplus$, planets above this mass should be lost into the central star long before the disc disperses. Massive planets open a gap and subsequently migrate in the slower, type~II migration, which could save them from migrating all the way to the star. Hence, growing giant planets can be saved if and only if they can reach the gap opening mass, because this extends their migration time-scale, allowing them to eventually survive at large orbits until the disc itself disperses. However, most of the previous studies only measured the torques on planets with fixed masses and orbits to determine the migration rate. Additionally, the transition between type~I and type~II migration itself is not well studied. Here we use isothermal 2D disc simulations with FARGO-2D1D to study the migration behaviour of gas accreting protoplanets in discs. We find that migrating giant planets always open gaps in the disc. We further show analytically and numerically that planets growing in the runaway gas accretion regime will reach gap opening masses before migrating all the way to the central star if the disc is not extremely viscous and/or thick. An accretion rate limited to the radial gas flow in the disc, in contrast, is not fast enough. When gas accretion by the planet is taken into account, the gap opening process is accelerated because the planet accretes material originating from its horseshoe region. This allows an accreting planet to transition to type~II migration before being lost even if gas fails to be provided for a rapid enough growth and the gap opening mass is not reached.