Formation History of HD106906 and the Vertical Warping of Debris Disks by an External Inclined Companion

TL;DR

This paper investigates how an inclined external companion influences the formation and warping of debris disks, proposing a recent close encounter with a free-floating planet as a plausible scenario for HD106906's current system configuration.

Contribution

It introduces a model showing that an inclined companion can rapidly warp debris disks and suggests a recent encounter with a free-floating planet as the origin of the observed system features.

Findings

Debris disk becomes warped within 5 Myr due to an inclined companion

A recent close encounter with a free-floating planet can explain the system's structure

The proposed scenario matches observed orbital parameters of HD106906b

Abstract

HD106906 is a planetary system that hosts a wide-orbit companion, as well as an eccentric and flat debris disk, which hold important constraints on its formation and subsequent evolution. The recent observations of the companion constrain its orbit to be eccentric and inclined relative to the plane of the debris disk. Here, we show that, in the presence of the inclined companion, the debris disk quickly ($\lesssim5$ Myr) becomes warped and puffy. This suggests that the current configuration of the system is relatively recent. We explore the possibility that a recent close encounter with a free floating planet could produce a companion with orbital parameters that agree with observations of HD106906b. We find that this scenario is able to recreate the structure of the debris disk while producing a companion in agreement with observation.