# Rings and gaps produced by variable magnetic disk winds and avalanche accretion streams: I. Axisymmetric resistive MHD simulations

## TL;DR

This study uses axisymmetric resistive MHD simulations to explore how variable magnetic disk winds and avalanche accretion streams create rings and gaps in protoplanetary disks, influencing planet formation processes.

## Contribution

It demonstrates how different accretion modes driven by magnetic fields and resistivity produce observable disk structures like rings and gaps, advancing understanding of disk evolution.

## Key findings

- Fast avalanche streams lead to dense rings through continuous feeding.
- Regions with low mass-to-flux ratios form gaps, high ratios form dense rings.
- Both wind-driven and stream-driven accretion modes produce observable disk features.

## Abstract

Rings and gaps are being observed in an increasing number of disks around young stellar objects. We illustrate the formation of such radial structures through idealized, 2D (axisymmetric) resistive MHD simulations of coupled disk-wind systems threaded by a relatively weak poloidal magnetic field (plasma-$\beta \sim 10^3$). We find two distinct modes of accretion depending on the resistivity and field strength. A small resistivity or high field strength promotes the development of rapidly infalling `avalanche accretion streams' in a vertically extended disk envelope that dominates the dynamics of the system, especially the mass accretion. The streams are suppressed in simulations with larger resistivities or lower field strengths, where most of the accretion instead occurs through a laminar disk. In these simulations, the disk accretion is driven mainly by a slow wind that is typically accelerated by the pressure gradient from a predominantly toroidal magnetic field. Both wind-dominated and stream-dominated modes of accretion create prominent features in the surface density distribution of the disk, including rings and gaps, with a strong spatial variation of the magnetic flux relative to the mass. Regions with low mass-to-flux ratios accrete quickly, leading to the development of gaps, whereas regions with higher mass-to-flux ratios tend to accrete more slowly, allowing matter to accumulate and form dense rings. In some cases, avalanche accretion streams are observed to produce dense rings directly through continuous feeding. We discuss the implications of ring and gap formation driven by winds and streams on grain growth and planet formation.