Emerging population of gap-opening planets around type-A stars -- Long-term evolution of the forming planets around HD 163296

TL;DR

This study models the long-term evolution of gap-opening planets around HD 163296 to understand their potential as progenitors of exoplanets around A-type stars, emphasizing the role of disk viscosity in planetary migration and final configuration.

Contribution

It provides a detailed simulation of planet evolution considering disk viscosity, disk lifetime, and initial parameters, linking protoplanetary disk properties to observed exoplanet populations around A-type stars.

Findings

Final planetary configurations are mainly influenced by disk viscosity (α parameter).

A specific range of α (3.16×10^{-4} to 10^{-3}) is necessary for planets to evolve into observed exoplanet populations.

Predicted planet masses and orbital distances depend on disk properties and evolution, guiding future direct imaging surveys.

Abstract

The presence of forming planets embedded in their protoplanetary disks has been inferred from the detection of multiring structures in such disks. Most of these suspected planets are undetectable by direct imaging observations at current measurement sensitivities. Inward migration and accretion might make these putative planets accessible to the Doppler method, but the actual extent of growth and orbital evolution remains unconstrained. Under the premise that the gaps in the disk around HD 163296 originate from new-born planets, we investigate if and under which circumstances the gap-opening planets could represent progenitors of the exoplanet population detected around A-type stars. In particular, we study the dependence of final planetary masses and orbital parameters on the viscosity of the disk. The evolution of the embedded planets was simulated throughout the disk lifetime and up to 100 Myr after the dispersal of the disk, taking the evolving disk structure and a likely range of disk lifetimes into account. We find that the final configuration of the planets is largely determined by the $\alpha$ viscosity parameter of the disk and less dependent on the choice for the disk lifetime and the initial planetary parameters. If we assume that planets such as those in HD 163296 evolve to form the observed exoplanet population of A-type stars, a $\alpha$ parameter on the order of $3.16 \times 10^{-4} \lesssim \alpha \lesssim 10^{-3}$ is required for the disks to induce sufficiently high migration rates. Depending on whether or not future direct imaging surveys will uncover a larger number of planets with $m_\mathrm{pl} \lesssim 3 M_\mathrm{Jup}$ and $a_\mathrm{pl} \gtrsim 10 \mathrm{AU}$ we expect the $\alpha$ parameter to be at the lower or upper end of this range, always under the assumption that such disks indeed harbor wide orbit planets.