DustPy: A Python Package for Dust Evolution in Protoplanetary Disks

TL;DR

DustPy is a versatile Python package that models dust evolution in protoplanetary disks, aiding interpretation of observations and understanding of planet formation processes.

Contribution

It introduces a modular Python tool for simulating dust growth and transport in protoplanetary disks, customizable for various research needs.

Findings

Simulates dust size evolution considering collisional growth.

Includes gas and dust transport mechanisms.

Facilitates interpretation of observational data.

Abstract

Many processes during the evolution of protoplanetary disks and during planet formation are highly sensitive to the sizes of dust particles that are present in the disk: The efficiency of dust accretion in the disk and volatile transport on dust particles, gravoturbulent instabilities leading to the formation of planetesimals, or the accretion of pebbles onto large planetary embryos to form giant planets are typical examples of processes that depend on the sizes of the dust particles involved. Furthermore, radiative properties like absorption or scattering opacities depend on the particle sizes. To interpret observations of dust in protoplanetary disks, a proper estimate of the dust particle sizes is needed. We present DustPy - A Python package to simulate dust evolution in protoplanetary disks. DustPy solves gas and dust transport including viscous advection and diffusion as well as collisional growth of dust particles. DustPy is written with a modular concept, such that every aspect of the model can be easily modified or extended to allow for a multitude of research opportunities.