Multi-wavelength Constraints on Dust Dynamics and Size Evolution in Protoplanetary Disk Rings. II. Observational Implications
astro-ph.EP
Submitted: 2026-09-15
Updated: 2026-09-15
Comments: 18 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal
Code: https://github.com/SScoorge/dring
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The gist: Spatially resolved dust rings in protoplanetary disks are widely used to infer disk and dust physics from multi-wavelength continuum observations.
Terminology
Abstract
Spatially resolved dust rings in protoplanetary disks are widely used to infer disk and dust physics from multi-wavelength continuum observations. Their interpretation, however, often neglects grain growth and the evolution of the size distribution, limiting the connection between observed ring profiles and dust-evolution parameters. Building on a physical dust-ring model that includes coagulation and fragmentation, we develop a Bayesian inference framework that jointly incorporates radiative transfer and finite angular resolution. When applied to two rings in HD 163296 and two in LkCa 15, our framework yields gas-dependent estimates of the key dust-evolution parameters such as turbulence strength α and the fragmentation velocity v frag in a self-consistent way. Most rings admit both a low- α, low- v frag branch with small grains, and a higher- α, higher- v frag branch with larger grains. Typical low- α branches have α about10-5 -- 10-4 and fragmentation velocities of order cm s-1 level, whereas the higher- α branches reach α about10-3 -- 10-2 and fragmentation velocities of a few to 20 m s-1. The observed broad and wavelength-dependent profiles near the ring peaks can be reproduced by intrinsically narrow dust rings. This new framework offers a more direct route from multi-wavelength continuum data to the microphysics of dust growth and trapping---a connection that can be robustly tested with future high-resolution observations at longer wavelengths.
Sources
- Structured Distributions of Gas and Solids in Protoplanetary Disks
- Demographics of planet-forming disks with the SKAO
- Millimeter dust continuum and polarization in protoplanetary disks with scattering: A slab model
- Hydro-, Magnetohydro-, and Dust-Gas Dynamics of Protoplanetary Disks
- Demographics of young stars and their protoplanetary disks: lessons learned on disk evolution and its connection to planet formation
- Planet-Disk Interactions
- Probing Dust in the MWC 480 Disk from Millimeter to Centimeter Wavelengths
- Substructures in Planet-Forming Disks with the SKAO
Related papers
- PDS 70 c and SR 12 c: Observational Constraints on Giant-Planet and Satellite Formation
- Two-stage disruption of resonant chains
- Detectability of resolved hydrogen lines from the accretion shock at gas giants and their CPDs
- Binary-lens Microlensing Degeneracy: Impact on Planetary Sensitivity and Mass-ratio Function
- Atmospheric escape fractionates secondary but not primary atmospheres
- The Occurrence Rate of Nearby Planetary Companions to Hot Jupiters