Experimental study of clusters in dense granular gas and implications for the particle stopping time in protoplanetary disks

TL;DR

This study experimentally investigates how dense clusters of particles in granular gases influence particle stopping times, revealing that collective effects significantly alter drag forces and particle dynamics relevant to planet formation.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental evidence of collective effects on particle drag in dense granular gases at high solid-to-gas ratios, with implications for protoplanetary disk modeling.

Findings

Cluster diffusion and formation observed in experiments.

Drag force reduced by a factor of 18 at high solid-to-gas ratios.

Flocks of grains move and collide faster than individual particles.

Abstract

In protoplanetary disks, zones of dense particle configuration promote planet formation. Solid particles in dense clouds alter their motion through collective effects and back reaction to the gas. The effect of particle-gas feedback with ambient solid-to-gas ratios $\epsilon > 1$ on the stopping time of particles is investigated. In experiments on board the International Space Station we studied the evolution of a dense granular gas while interacting with air. We observed diffusion of clusters released at the onset of an experiment but also the formation of new dynamical clusters. The solid-to-gas mass ratio outside the cluster varied in the range of about $\epsilon_{\rm avg} \sim 2.5 - 60$. We find that the concept of gas drag in a viscous medium still holds, even if the medium is strongly dominated in mass by solids. However, a collective factor has to be used, depending on $\epsilon_{\rm avg} $, i.e. the drag force is reduced by a factor 18 at the highest mass ratios. Therefore, flocks of grains in protoplanetary disks move faster and collide faster than their constituents might suggest.