Forming pressure-traps at the snow-line to isolate isotopic reservoirs in the absence of a planet

TL;DR

This paper proposes a mechanism for forming pressure maxima inward of the snow-line in protoplanetary disks without planets, which can isolate isotopic reservoirs and promote planetesimal formation.

Contribution

It introduces a new process where water vapor release causes pressure bumps inward of the snow-line, independent of planetary influence, based on analytical and numerical analysis.

Findings

Pressure maxima can form inward of the snow-line due to water vapor release.

A decreasing alpha with surface density facilitates pressure bump formation.

High icy pebble flux is necessary for the pressure bump to persist.

Abstract

Pressure maxima are regions in protoplanetary disks where pebbles can be trapped because of the local absence of pressure gradient. These regions could be ideal places to form planetesimals or to isolate isotopic reservoirs. Observations of protoplanetary disks show that dusty rings structures are common, and pressure maxima are sometime invoked as a possible explanation. In our Solar System, pressure bumps have been suggested as a possible mechanism for separating reservoirs with different nucleosynthetic compositions. In this letter we detail a mechanism by which pressure maxima form just inward the snow-line in stratified disks. This mechanism does not need the presence of a planet. Using a combination of analytical and numerical investigation we explore the range of conditions for a pressure maximum to form inside the dead-zone and just inward the snow-line. When the vertically averaged $\alpha$ is a decreasing function of surface density then the release of water vapor at the snow-line lowers the sound velocity, and in turn, a pressure bump appears. This requires a constant inflow of icy pebbles with pebbles influx to gas influx $>0.6$ for a power law disk with $1\%$ ice/gas ratio, and $>1.8$ for a disk with ice/gas ratio $\sim 0.3\%$. If these conditions are met, then a Pressure-maximum appears just inward the snow-line due to a process coupling the dead and active layers at the evaporation front. The pressure bump survives as long as the icy pebble flux is high enough. The formation of the pressure bump is triggered by the drop of sound velocity inward the snow-line, due to the release of water vapor. This mechanism is promising for isolating early reservoirs carrying different isotopic signatures in the Solar System and for promoting dry planetesimal formation inward the snow-line, provided the vertically averaged description of a dead-zone is valid.