Constraining planetesimal stirring: how sharp are debris disc edges?

TL;DR

This study uses the sharpness of debris disc edges to constrain the level of orbital stirring among planetesimals, providing new insights into the presence of embedded objects and stirring mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a model linking disc edge sharpness to eccentricity dispersion and applies it to ALMA data, offering novel constraints on stirring levels in debris discs.

Findings

Sharp edges imply low eccentricity dispersion.

Some discs suggest presence of Pluto-sized objects.

Discs with smooth edges likely have massive inner companions.

Abstract

The dust production in debris discs by grinding collisions of planetesimals requires their orbits to be stirred. However, stirring levels remain largely unconstrained, and consequently the stirring mechanisms as well. This work shows how the sharpness of the outer edge of discs can be used to constrain the stirring levels. Namely, the sharper the edge is the lower the eccentricity dispersion must be. For a Rayleigh distribution of eccentricities ($e$), I find that the disc surface density near the outer edge can be parametrised as $\tanh[(r_{\max}-r)/l_{\rm out}]$, where $r_{\max}$ approximates the maximum semi-major axis and $l_{\rm out}$ defines the edge smoothness. If the semi-major axis distribution has sharp edges $e_\mathrm{rms}$ is roughly $1.2 l_{\rm out}/r_{\max}$, or $e_\mathrm{rms}=0.77 l_{\rm out}/r_{\max}$ if semi-major axes have diffused due to self-stirring. This model is fitted to ALMA data of five wide discs: HD 107146, HD 92945, HD 206893, AU Mic and HR 8799. The results show that HD 107146, HD 92945 and AU Mic have the sharpest outer edges, corresponding to $e_\mathrm{rms}$ values of $0.121\pm0.05$, $0.15^{+0.07}_{-0.05}$ and $0.10\pm0.02$ if their discs are self-stirred, suggesting the presence of Pluto-sized objects embedded in the disc. Although these stirring values are larger than typically assumed, the radial stirring of HD 92945 is in good agreement with its vertical stirring constrained by the disc height. HD 206893 and HR~8799, on the other hand, have smooth outer edges that are indicative of scattered discs since both systems have massive inner companions.