Can gap-edge illumination excite spirals in protoplanetary disks? Three-temperature radiation hydrodynamics and NIR image modelling

TL;DR

This study shows that gap-edge illumination from low-mass planets can generate prominent spiral arms in protoplanetary disks, especially in near-infrared images, highlighting the role of radiation physics in disk structure formation.

Contribution

It introduces 3D radiation hydrodynamical simulations demonstrating how intermediate-mass planets can induce observable spiral features via gap-edge illumination.

Findings

Gap-edge illumination creates prominent spirals in near-infrared images.

Intermediate-mass planets can induce large-scale spiral structures.

Radiation physics significantly influences disk morphology modeling.

Abstract

The advent of high-resolution, near-infrared instruments such as VLT/SPHERE and Gemini/GPI has helped uncover a wealth of substructure in planet-forming disks, including large, prominent spiral arms in MWC 758, SAO 206462, and V1247 Ori among others. In the classical theory of disk-planet interaction, these arms are consistent with Lindblad-resonance driving by multi-Jupiter-mass companions. Despite improving detection limits, evidence for such massive bodies in connection with spiral substructure has been inconclusive. In search of an alternative explanation, we use the PLUTO code to run 3D hydrodynamical simulations with two comparatively low planet masses (Saturn-mass, Jupiter-mass) and two thermodynamic prescriptions (three-temperature radiation hydrodynamics, and the more traditional $\beta$-cooling) in a low-mass disk. In the radiative cases, an $m = 2$ mode, potentially attributable to the interaction of stellar radiation with gap-edge asymmetries, creates an azimuthal pressure gradient, which in turn gives rise to prominent spiral arms in the upper layers of the disk. Monte Carlo radiative transfer (MCRT) post-processing with RADMC3D reveals that in near-infrared scattered light, these gap-edge spirals are significantly more prominent than the traditional Lindblad spirals for planets in the mass range tested. Our results demonstrate that even intermediate-mass protoplanets -- less detectable, but more ubiquitous, than super-Jupiters -- are capable of indirectly inducing large-scale spiral disk features, and underscore the importance of including radiation physics in efforts to reproduce observations.