Planetary migration in wind-fed non-stationary accretion disks in binary systems

TL;DR

This study models planetary migration in non-stationary, wind-fed accretion disks within binary systems, revealing new migration behaviors influenced by disk evolution, which affect planet positions and system architecture.

Contribution

It introduces a numerical model of evolving alpha-disks with variable mass inflow, identifying a new migration type driven by radial aspect ratio gradients in binary star systems.

Findings

A new migration type occurs in growing disks with radial aspect ratio gradients.

Rapid wind rate growth can cause outward planetary migration.

Migration efficiency peaks for planets of 60-80 Earth masses in binaries with initial separation less than 100 AU.

Abstract

An accretion disk can be formed around a secondary star in a binary system when the primary companion leaves the Main sequence and starts to lose mass at an enhanced rate. We study the accretion disk evolution and planetary migration in wide binaries. We use a numerical model of a non-stationary alpha-disk with a variable mass inflow. We take into account that the low-mass disk has an extended region that is optically thin along the rotation axis. We consider irradiation by both the host star and the donor. The migration path of a planet in such a disk is determined by the migration rate varying during the disk evolution. Giant planets may open/close the gap several times over the disk lifetime. We identify the new type of migration specific to parts of the growing disk with a considerable radial gradient of an aspect ratio. Its rate is enclosed between the type 2 and the fast type 1 migration rates being determined by the ratio of time and radial derivatives of the disk aspect ratio. Rapid growth of the wind rate just before the envelope loss by the donor leads to the formation of a zone of decretion, which may lead to substantial outward migration. In binaries with an initial separation $a\lesssim 100$\,AU migration becomes most efficient for planets with 60--80 Earth masses. This results in approaching a short distance from the host star where tidal forces become non-negligible. Less massive Neptune-like planets at the initial orbits $r_\mathrm{p} \lesssim 2$\,AU can reach these internal parts in binaries with $a \lesssim 30$\,AU. In binaries, mass loss by the primary component at late evolutionary stages can significantly modify the structure of a planetary system around the secondary component resulting in mergers of relatively massive planets with a host star.