Planetary core formation via multi-species pebble accretion

TL;DR

This paper explores how accreting multiple pebble species influences planetary core growth, showing it can lead to faster formation of massive cores, explaining observed planetary compositions and structures.

Contribution

It introduces a multi-species pebble accretion model and demonstrates its impact on core growth rates and final masses, expanding beyond single-species assumptions.

Findings

Core growth rates depend on pebble fragmentation velocity, turbulence, and pebble distribution.

Multi-species pebble accretion enables rapid formation of cores over 30 Earth masses.

Potential to form giant planet cores at large orbital distances.

Abstract

In the general classical picture of pebble-based core growth, planetary cores grow by accretion of single pebble species. The growing planet may reach the so-called pebble isolation mass, at which it induces a pressure bump that blocks inward drifting pebbles exterior to its orbit, thereby stalling core growth by pebble accretion. In recent hydrodynamic simulations, pebble filtration by the pressure bump depends on several parameters including core mass, disc structure, turbulent viscosity and pebble size. We investigated how accretion of multiple, instead of single, pebble species affects core growth rates, and how the dependence of pebble isolation mass on turbulent viscosity and pebble size sets the final core masses. We performed numerical simulations in viscous 1D disc, where maximal grain sizes were regulated by grain growth, fragmentation and drift limits. We confirm that core growth rates and final core masses are sensitive to three key parameters: threshold velocity at which pebbles fragment on collision, turbulent viscosity and distribution of pebble species, which yield a diversity of planetary cores. With accretion of multiple pebble species, planetary cores can grow pretty fast, reaching over 30 -- 40 $M_{\rm{E}}$ in mass. Potential cores of cold gas giants were able to form from embryos initially implanted as far as 50 AU. Our results suggest that accretion of multi-species pebbles could explain: the estimated 25 -- 45 $M_{\rm{E}}$ heavy elements abundance inside Jupiter's core; massive cores of extrasolar planets; disc rings and gaps at wider orbits; early and rapid formation of planetary bodies.