Accretion Bursts in Young Intermediate-mass Stars Make Planet Formation Challenging
We investigate the occurrence of accretion bursts, dust accumulation, and the prospects for planetesimal formation in a gravitationally unstable magnetized protoplanetary disk (PPD) with globally suppressed but episodically triggered magnetorotational instability (MRI), particularly in young interme...
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2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb8ee |
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| author | Indrani Das Eduard Vorobyov Shantanu Basu |
| author_facet | Indrani Das Eduard Vorobyov Shantanu Basu |
| author_sort | Indrani Das |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We investigate the occurrence of accretion bursts, dust accumulation, and the prospects for planetesimal formation in a gravitationally unstable magnetized protoplanetary disk (PPD) with globally suppressed but episodically triggered magnetorotational instability (MRI), particularly in young intermediate-mass stars (YIMSs) but with a brief comparison to low-mass counterparts. We use numerical magnetohydrodynamics simulations in the thin-disk limit (the Formation and Evolution Of a Star And its circumstellar Disk, or FEOSAD, code) to model the formation and long-term evolution of a gravitationally unstable magnetized PPD, including dust dynamics and growth, since the collapse of a massive slowly rotating prestellar cloud core. Massive gas concentrations and dust rings form within the inner disk region owing to the radially varying efficiency of mass transport by gravitational instability (GI). These rings are initially susceptible to streaming instability (SI). However, gradual warming of the dust rings thanks to high opacity and GI-induced influx of matter increases the gas temperature above a threshold for the MRI to develop via thermal ionization of alkaline metals. The ensuing MRI bursts destroy the dust rings, making planetesimal formation via SI problematic. In the later evolution phase, when the burst activity starts to diminish, SI becomes inefficient because of growing dust drift velocity and a more extended inner dead zone, both acting to reduce the dust concentration below the threshold for the SI to develop. Low-mass objects appear to be less affected by these adverse effects. Our results suggest that disks around YIMSs may be challenging environments for planetesimal formation via SI. This may explain the dearth of planets around stars with M _* > 3.0 M _⊙ . |
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| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| spelling | doaj-art-103f505246184b4c9fee43404b2bbe222025-08-20T02:17:37ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01983216310.3847/1538-4357/adb8eeAccretion Bursts in Young Intermediate-mass Stars Make Planet Formation ChallengingIndrani Das0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7424-4193Eduard Vorobyov1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6045-0359Shantanu Basu2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0855-350XInstitute of Astronomy and Astrophysics , Academia Sinica, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 106319, Taiwan ; idas2@uwo.caUral Federal University , 19 Mira Str., 620002 Ekaterinburg, Russia ; eduard.vorobiev@univie.ac.at; Research Institute of Physics, Southern Federal University , Rostov-on-Don 344090, RussiaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario , London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada ; basu@uwo.ca; Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 60 St. George, St., Toronto, ON M5S 3H8, CanadaWe investigate the occurrence of accretion bursts, dust accumulation, and the prospects for planetesimal formation in a gravitationally unstable magnetized protoplanetary disk (PPD) with globally suppressed but episodically triggered magnetorotational instability (MRI), particularly in young intermediate-mass stars (YIMSs) but with a brief comparison to low-mass counterparts. We use numerical magnetohydrodynamics simulations in the thin-disk limit (the Formation and Evolution Of a Star And its circumstellar Disk, or FEOSAD, code) to model the formation and long-term evolution of a gravitationally unstable magnetized PPD, including dust dynamics and growth, since the collapse of a massive slowly rotating prestellar cloud core. Massive gas concentrations and dust rings form within the inner disk region owing to the radially varying efficiency of mass transport by gravitational instability (GI). These rings are initially susceptible to streaming instability (SI). However, gradual warming of the dust rings thanks to high opacity and GI-induced influx of matter increases the gas temperature above a threshold for the MRI to develop via thermal ionization of alkaline metals. The ensuing MRI bursts destroy the dust rings, making planetesimal formation via SI problematic. In the later evolution phase, when the burst activity starts to diminish, SI becomes inefficient because of growing dust drift velocity and a more extended inner dead zone, both acting to reduce the dust concentration below the threshold for the SI to develop. Low-mass objects appear to be less affected by these adverse effects. Our results suggest that disks around YIMSs may be challenging environments for planetesimal formation via SI. This may explain the dearth of planets around stars with M _* > 3.0 M _⊙ .https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb8eeProtoplanetary disksProtostarsStar formationPre-main sequence starsPlanet formationDust physics |
| spellingShingle | Indrani Das Eduard Vorobyov Shantanu Basu Accretion Bursts in Young Intermediate-mass Stars Make Planet Formation Challenging The Astrophysical Journal Protoplanetary disks Protostars Star formation Pre-main sequence stars Planet formation Dust physics |
| title | Accretion Bursts in Young Intermediate-mass Stars Make Planet Formation Challenging |
| title_full | Accretion Bursts in Young Intermediate-mass Stars Make Planet Formation Challenging |
| title_fullStr | Accretion Bursts in Young Intermediate-mass Stars Make Planet Formation Challenging |
| title_full_unstemmed | Accretion Bursts in Young Intermediate-mass Stars Make Planet Formation Challenging |
| title_short | Accretion Bursts in Young Intermediate-mass Stars Make Planet Formation Challenging |
| title_sort | accretion bursts in young intermediate mass stars make planet formation challenging |
| topic | Protoplanetary disks Protostars Star formation Pre-main sequence stars Planet formation Dust physics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb8ee |
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