The dispersal of protoplanetary discs. II: Photoevaporation models with observationally derived irradiating spectra

TL;DR

This study develops photoevaporation models for protoplanetary discs based on observed X-ray spectra from young stars, improving understanding of disc dispersal and wind mass loss rates, with implications for planet formation.

Contribution

It introduces new photoevaporation prescriptions derived from observationally based spectra, linking stellar X-ray luminosity to disc wind mass loss rates and profiles.

Findings

Disc wind mass loss rates depend on soft X-ray luminosity.

Analytical relations for mass loss rates and wind profiles are provided.

Moderate improvement in matching observed transition disc statistics.

Abstract

Young solar-type stars are known to be strong X-ray emitters and their X-ray spectra have been widely studied. X-rays from the central star may play a crucial role in the thermodynamics and chemistry of the circumstellar material as well as in the atmospheric evolution of young planets. In this paper we present model spectra based on spectral parameters derived from the observations of young stars in the Orion Nebula Cluster from the Chandra Orion Ultradeep Project (COUP). The spectra are then used to calculate new photoevaporation prescriptions that can be used in disc and planet population synthesis models. Our models clearly show that disc wind mass loss rates are controlled by the stellar luminosity in the soft (100 eV - 1 keV) X- ray band. New analytical relations are provided for the mass loss rates and profiles of photoevaporative winds as a function of the luminosity in the soft X-ray band. The agreement between observed and predicted transition disc statistics moderately improved using the new spectra, but the observed population of strongly accreting large cavity discs can still not be reproduced by these models. Furthermore, our models predict a population of non-accreting transition discs that are not observed. This highlights the importance of considering the depletion of millimeter-sized dust grains from the outer disc, which is a likely reason why such discs have not been detected yet.