A parametric model for externally irradiated protoplanetary disks with photoevaporative winds

TL;DR

This paper introduces 'PUFFIN', a fast parametric model for simulating the density structures of externally irradiated protoplanetary disks with photoevaporative winds, validated against hydrodynamical simulations, and demonstrates its utility in studying CO chemistry.

Contribution

We develop and validate a computationally efficient parametric framework for modeling irradiated disks, enabling rapid exploration of parameter space compared to traditional hydrodynamic simulations.

Findings

External FUV irradiation increases CO gas-phase abundance.

The model accurately reproduces density structures across various parameters.

FUV effects are strongest in outer disks and influence volatile budgets.

Abstract

Protoplanetary disks in massive star-forming regions may be exposed to ultraviolet radiation fields orders of magnitude stronger than the interstellar background. This intense radiation drives photoevaporative winds that fundamentally shape disk evolution and chemistry. However, full radiation hydrodynamic simulations of these systems remain computationally expensive, preventing systematic exploration of the parameter space. We present a parametric framework for efficiently generating density structures of externally irradiated protoplanetary disks with photoevaporative winds. Our approach implements a spherically diverging wind configuration with smooth transitions between the disk interior, the FUV-heated surface layer, and the wind itself. We validate this framework extensively against the FRIED grid of hydrodynamical simulations, demonstrating accurate reproduction of density structures across stellar masses from 0.3 to 3.0 M_sun, disk radii from 20 to 150 au, and external FUV fields from 100 to 100,000 G0. The complete framework is available as 'PUFFIN', a Python package that generates full 1D or 2D density structures in seconds to minutes, compared to weeks or months for equivalent hydrodynamical calculations. We demonstrate the scientific utility of this approach by modelling CO chemistry across a comprehensive parameter grid, using our density structures as inputs to thermochemical calculations. Our results show that external FUV irradiation significantly enhances CO gas-phase abundances through indirect heating mechanisms, which raise midplane temperatures and enhance thermal desorption of CO ice. This effect is strongest in the outer disk and scales with both external field strength and disk mass, with important implications for volatile budgets available to forming planets in clustered environments.