Water Enrichment from Pebble Drift in Disks with Gap-forming Planets

TL;DR

This study models how multiple gaps created by planets in protoplanetary disks influence water delivery to the inner disk, revealing that massive planets can significantly block icy pebble drift and water enrichment.

Contribution

It extends previous models by systematically analyzing the effects of multiple gaps and varying planet masses on water enrichment in disks.

Findings

Deep gaps by Jupiter-mass planets block pebble drift effectively.

Lower-mass planets create leaky traps allowing some water delivery.

Multiple gaps reduce inner disk water vapor enrichment.

Abstract

Volatiles like $H_2O$ are present as ice in solids in the outer cold regions of protoplanetary disks and as vapor in the warm inner regions within the water snow line. Icy pebbles drifting inwards from the outer disk sublimate after crossing the snow line, enriching the inner disk with solid mass and water vapor. Meanwhile, proto-planets forming within the disk open gaps in the disk gas, creating traps against the inward drift of pebbles and in turn reducing water enrichment in the inner disk. Recent disk observations from millimeter interferometry and infrared spectroscopy have supported this broad picture by finding a correlation between the outer radial distribution of pebbles and the properties of inner water vapor spectra. In this work, we aim at further informing previous and future observations by building on previous models to explore pebble drift in disks with multiple gaps. We systematically explore multiple gap locations and their depths (equivalent to specific masses of planets forming within), and different particle sizes to study their impact on inner disk water enrichment. We find that the presence of close-in deep gaps carved by a Jupiter-mass planet is likely crucial for blocking icy pebble delivery into the inner disk, while planets with lower masses only provide leaky traps. We also find that disks with multiple gaps show lower vapor enrichment in the inner disk. Altogether, these model results support the idea that inner disk water delivery and planet formation are regulated by the mass and location of the most massive planets.