# PDS 70: A transition disk sculpted by a single planet

## TL;DR

This study uses hydrodynamic simulations and radiative transfer modeling to show that a single super-Jupiter planet can create the large cavities observed in the PDS 70 transition disk, explaining its structure and high eccentricity.

## Contribution

It demonstrates that a single massive planet can carve out a transition disk cavity and naturally develop high eccentricity through disk-planet interactions.

## Key findings

- A super-Jupiter planet can produce the observed disk cavity.
- The planet's eccentricity grows to high values during accretion.
- Simulated gap profiles match observations of PDS 70.

## Abstract

The wide, deep cavities of transition disks are often believed to have been hollowed out by nascent planetary systems. PDS 70, a ${\sim}5$ Myr old transition disk system in which a multi-Jupiter-mass planet candidate at 22 au coexists with a ${\sim}30$ au gas and ${\sim}60$ au dust-continuum gap, provides a valuable case study for this hypothesis. Using the PEnGUIn hydrodynamics code, we simulate the orbital evolution and accretion of PDS 70b in its natal disk over the lifetime of the system. When the accreting planet reaches about 2.5 Jupiter masses, it spontaneously grows in eccentricity and consumes material from a wide swathe of the PDS 70 disk; radiative transfer post-processing with DALI shows that this accurately reproduces the observed gap profile. Our results demonstrate that super-Jupiter planets can single-handedly carve out transition disk cavities, and indicate that the high eccentricities measured for such giants may be a natural consequence of disk-planet interaction.