Structure Formation in a Young Protoplanetary Disk by a Magnetic Disk Wind

TL;DR

This paper presents a one-dimensional model demonstrating how magnetic disk winds can lead to the formation of ring-hole structures in young protoplanetary disks, aligning with recent ALMA observations.

Contribution

It introduces a long-term, integrated model for disk formation and evolution, highlighting the role of MHD disk winds in creating ring-hole structures in young disks.

Findings

MHD disk wind can form ring-hole structures within 6×10^5 years.

Five disk morphologies are identified based on timescale comparisons.

The model explains observed features in systems like WL 17.

Abstract

Structure formation in young protoplanetary disks is investigated using a one-dimensional model including the formation and the evolution of disks. Recent observations with ALMA found that a ring-hole structure may be formed in young protoplanetary disks, even when the disk is embedded in the envelope. We present a one-dimensional model for the formation of a protoplanetary disk from a molecular cloud core and its subsequent long-term evolution within a single framework. Such long-term evolution has not been explored by numerical simulations due to the limitation of computational power. In our model, we calculate the time evolution of the surface density of the gas and the dust with the wind mass loss and the radial drift of the dust in the disk. We find that the MHD disk wind is a viable mechanism for the formation of ring-hole structure in young disks. We perform a parameter study of our model and derive condition of the formation of ring-hole structures within $6\times10^5$ years after the start of the collapse of the molecular cloud core. The final outcome of the disk shows five types of morphology and this can be understood by comparing the timescale of the viscous diffusion, the mass loss by MHD disk wind and the radial drift of the dust. We discuss the implication of the model for the WL 17 system, which is suspected to be an embedded, yet transitional, disk.