On the growth and evolution of low-mass planets in pressure bumps

TL;DR

This study uses hydrodynamical simulations to explore how pressure bumps in protoplanetary discs influence low-mass planet growth, highlighting the roles of thermal forces, dust feedback, and pebble accretion in forming giant planet cores.

Contribution

It demonstrates that pressure bumps can facilitate giant planet core formation through pebble accretion, thermal effects, and dust feedback, providing new insights into planet formation locations.

Findings

Pressure bumps trap pebbles, aiding planet growth.

Thermal forces induce eccentricity and vortex formation.

Pressure bumps favor giant planet core formation.

Abstract

Observations of protoplanetary discs have revealed dust rings which are likely due to the presence of pressure bumps in the disc. Because these structures tend to trap drifting pebbles, it has been proposed that pressure bumps may play an important role in the planet formation process. In this paper, we investigate the orbital evolution of a $0.1$ $M_\oplus$ protoplanet embedded in a pressure bump using 2-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of protoplanetary discs consisting of gas and pebbles. We examine the role of thermal forces generated by the pebble accretion-induced heat release, taking into account the feedback between luminosity and eccentricity. We also study the effect of the pebble-scattered flow on the planet's orbital evolution. Due to accumulation of pebbles at the pressure bump, the planet's accretion luminosity is high enough to induce significant eccentricity growth through thermal forces. Accretion luminosity is also responsible for vortex formation at the planet position through baroclinic effects, which cause the planet escape from the dust ring if dust feedback onto the gas is neglected. Including the effect of the dust back-reaction leads to weaker vortices, which enable the planet to remain close to the pressure maximum on an eccentric orbit. Simulations in which the planet mass is allowed to increase as a consequence of pebble accretion resulted in the formation of giant planet cores with mass in the range $5-20$ $M_\oplus$ over $\sim 2\times 10^4$ yrs. This occurs for moderate values of the Stokes number $St \approx 0.01$ such that the pebble drift velocity is not too high and the dust ring mass not too small. Our results suggest that pressure bumps mays be preferred locations for the formation of giant planets, but this requires a moderate level of grain growth within the disc.