Concentrating small particles in protoplanetary disks through the streaming instability

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that small particles in protoplanetary disks can concentrate via streaming instability at realistic solid abundances, potentially leading to planetesimal formation from millimeter to centimeter sizes.

Contribution

It introduces high-resolution simulations showing small particles can form dense filaments through streaming instability at lower metallicities than previously thought.

Findings

Small particles (mm/cm-sized) concentrate via streaming instability.

Concentrated regions reach densities above Roche density.

Revises critical solid abundance curve for small particles.

Abstract

Laboratory experiments indicate that direct growth of silicate grains via mutual collisions can only produce particles up to roughly millimeters in size. On the other hand, recent simulations of the streaming instability have shown that mm/cm-sized particles require an excessively high metallicity for dense filaments to emerge. Using a numerical algorithm for stiff mutual drag force, we perform simulations of small particles with significantly higher resolutions and longer simulation times than in previous investigations. We find that particles of dimensionless stopping time $\tau_\mathrm{s} = 10^{-2}$ and $10^{-3}$ -- representing mm- and cm-sized particles interior of the water ice line -- concentrate themselves via the streaming instability at a solid abundance of a few percent. We thus revise a previously published critical solid abundance curve for the regime of $\tau_\mathrm{s} \ll 1$. The solid density in the concentrated regions reaches values higher than the Roche density, indicating that direct collapse of particles down to mm sizes into planetesimals is possible. Our results hence bridge the gap in particle size between direct dust growth limited by bouncing and the streaming instability.