Gap Formation in Planetesimal Disks Via Divergently Migrating Planets

TL;DR

This study explores how divergent migration of low-mass planets can create observable gaps in debris disks, providing a potential explanation for gaps without high-mass planets.

Contribution

It demonstrates that Neptune-mass planets can form observable gaps via divergent migration within 10 million years, a novel mechanism for gap formation in debris disks.

Findings

Neptune-mass planets can produce observable gaps within 10 Myr.

Super-Earth pairs likely cannot form observable gaps on similar timescales.

Neglecting migration can lead to overestimating planet masses from disk gaps.

Abstract

While many observed debris disks are thought to have gaps suggestive of the presence of planets, direct imaging surveys do not find many high mass planets in these systems. We investigate if divergent migration is a viable mechanism for forming gaps in young debris disks with planets of low enough mass to currently elude detection. We perform numerical integrations of planet pairs embedded in planetesimal disks to assess the conditions for which divergent, planetesimal-driven migration occurs and gaps form within the disk. Gap widths and the migration rate of planets within a pair depend on both disk mass and the degree to which the planets share disk material. We find that planet pairs with planets more massive than Neptune can produce gaps with widths similar to their orbit distance within 10 Myr at orbit separations probed by direct imaging campaigns. Pairs of migrating super-Earths likely cannot form observable gaps on the same time and distance scales, however. Inferring the responsible planet masses from these gaps while neglecting migration could overestimate the mass of planets by more than an order of magnitude.