Inferring the Gas-to-Dust Ratio in the Main Planet-Forming Region of Disks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method to estimate the gas-to-dust ratio in the inner regions of protoplanetary disks by combining stellar theory with observed element abundances, providing insights into planet formation.

Contribution

It presents a novel approach to infer gas and dust surface densities in disks using stellar abundances, independent of direct spatial observations.

Findings

Derived dust depletion factors for inner disk regions.

Estimated gas-to-dust ratios consistent with planet formation models.

Provided a complementary method to direct disk observations.

Abstract

Measuring the amount of gas and dust in protoplanetary disks is a key challenge in planet formation studies. Here we provide a new set of dust depletion factors and relative mass surface densities of gas and dust for the innermost regions of a sample of protoplanetary disks. We do this by combining stellar theory with observed refractory element abundances in both disk hosts and open cluster stars. Our results are independent of, and complementary to, those obtained from spatially resolved disk observations.