Related papers: How Empty are Disk Gaps Opened by Giant Planets?
Context: Radius and mass measurements of short-period giant planets reveal that many of these planets contain a large amount of heavy elements, in sharp contrast with the expectations of the conventional core-accretion model for the origin…
We have performed three-dimensional two-fluid (gas-dust) hydrodynamical models of circumstellar discs with embedded protoplanets (3 - 333 M\oplu) and small solid bodies (radii 10cm to 10m). We find that high mass planets (\gtrsim Saturn…
Doppler surveys have shown that more massive stars have significantly higher frequencies of giant planets inside $\sim$ 3 AU than lower mass stars, consistent with giant planet formation by core accretion. Direct imaging searches have begun…
One possible explanation of the cavity in debris discs is the gravitational perturbation of an embedded giant planet. Planetesimals passing close to a massive body are dynamically stirred resulting in a cleared region known as the chaotic…
Massive giant planets, such as the ones being discovered by direct imaging surveys, likely experience the majority of their growth through a circumplanetary disc. We argue that the entropy of accreted material is determined by boundary…
A recent ALMA image revealed several concentric gaps in the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young star HL Tau. We consider the hypothesis that these gaps are carved by planets, and present a general framework for understanding the…
We investigate the observational signatures of super-Earths (i.e., Earth-to-Neptune mass planets) in their natal disks of gas and dust. Combining two-fluid global hydrodynamics simulations with a radiative transfer code, we calculate the…
Transitional disks around young stars are promising candidates to look for recently formed, embedded planets. Planet-disk interaction models predict that planets clear a gap in the gas while trapping dust at larger radii. Other physical…
Direct imaging observations constrain the fraction of stars orbited by gas giant planets with separations greater than 10 au to about 0.01 only. This is widely believed to indicate that massive protoplanetary discs rarely fragment on…
Recent detailed observations of protoplanetary discs revealed a lot of sub-structures which are mostly ring-like. One interpretation is that these rings are caused by growing planets. These potential planets are not yet opening very deep…
Young giant planets, which are embedded in a circumstellar disk, will significantly perturb the disk density distribution. This effect can potentially be used as an indirect tracer for planets. We investigate the feasibility of observing…
Many protoplanetary disks exhibit annular gaps in dust emission, which may be produced by planets. Simulations of planet-disk interaction aimed at interpreting these observations often treat the disk thermodynamics in an overly simplified…
ALMA has found multiple dust gaps and rings in a number of protoplanetary disks in continuum emission at millimeter wavelengths. The origin of such structures is in debate. Recently, we documented how one super-Earth planet can open…
Annular substructures in protoplanetary discs, ubiquitous in sub-mm observations, can be caused by gravitational coupling between a disc and its embedded planets. Planetary density waves inject angular momentum into the disc leading to gap…
Substructures are ubiquitous in high resolution (sub-)millimeter continuum observations of circumstellar disks. They are possibly caused by forming planets embedded in the disk. To investigate the relation between observed substructures and…
Planets open deep gaps in protoplanetary discs when their mass exceeds a gap opening mass, $M_{\rm gap}$. We use one- and two-dimensional simulations to study planet gap opening in discs with angular momentum transport powered by MHD disc…
Although current sensitivity limits are such that true Solar System analogs remain challenging to detect, numerous planetary systems have been discovered that are very different from our own Solar System. The majority of systems harbor a…
We perform a systematic study of the dynamics of dust particles in protoplanetary disks with embedded planets using global 2-D and 3-D inviscid hydrodynamic simulations. Lagrangian particles have been implemented into magnetohydrodynamic…
Celestial bodies with a mass of M ~ 10 M_Jup have been found orbiting nearby stars. It is unknown whether these objects formed like gas-giant planets through core accretion or like stars through gravitational instability. I show that…
Super-thermal gas giant planets or their progenitor cores are known to open deep gaps in protoplanetary disks, which stop large, drifting dust particles on their way to the inner disk. The possible separation of the disk into distinct…