Global Simulations of Gravitational Instability in Protostellar Disks with Full Radiation Transport. I. Stochastic Fragmentation with Optical-depth-dependent Rate and Universal Fragment Mass

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Auteurs principaux: Xu, Wenrui, Jiang, Yan-Fei, Kunz, Matthew W., Stone, James M.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
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author Xu, Wenrui
Jiang, Yan-Fei
Kunz, Matthew W.
Stone, James M.
author_facet Xu, Wenrui
Jiang, Yan-Fei
Kunz, Matthew W.
Stone, James M.
contents Fragmentation in a gravitationally unstable accretion disk can be an important pathway for forming stellar/planetary companions. To characterize quantitatively the condition for and outcome of fragmentation under realistic thermodynamics, we perform global 3D simulations of gravitationally unstable disks at various cooling rates and cooling types, including the first global simulations of gravitational instability that employ full radiation transport. We find that fragmentation is a stochastic process, with the fragment generation rate per disk area $p_{\rm frag}$ showing an exponential dependence on the parameter $β\equivΩ_K t_{cool}$, where $Ω_K$ is the Keplerian rotation frequency and $t_{cool}$ is the average cooling timescale. Compared to a prescribed constant $β$, radiative cooling in the optically thin/thick regime makes $p_{\rm frag}$ decrease slower/faster in $β$; the critical $β$ corresponding to $\sim 1$ fragment per orbit is $\approx$3, 5, 2 for constant $β$, optically thin, and optically thick cooling, respectively. The distribution function of the initial fragment mass is remarkably insensitive to disk thermodynamics. Regardless of cooling rate and optical depth, the typical initial fragment mass is $m_{frag} \approx 40 M_{tot}h^3$, with $M_{tot}$ being the total (star+disk) mass and $h=H/R$ being the disk aspect ratio. Applying this result to typical Class 0/I protostellar disks, we find $m_{frag}\sim 20 M_J$, suggesting that fragmentation more likely forms brown dwarfs. Given the finite width of the $m_{frag}$ distribution, forming massive planets is also possible.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_12042
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Global Simulations of Gravitational Instability in Protostellar Disks with Full Radiation Transport. I. Stochastic Fragmentation with Optical-depth-dependent Rate and Universal Fragment Mass
Xu, Wenrui
Jiang, Yan-Fei
Kunz, Matthew W.
Stone, James M.
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Fragmentation in a gravitationally unstable accretion disk can be an important pathway for forming stellar/planetary companions. To characterize quantitatively the condition for and outcome of fragmentation under realistic thermodynamics, we perform global 3D simulations of gravitationally unstable disks at various cooling rates and cooling types, including the first global simulations of gravitational instability that employ full radiation transport. We find that fragmentation is a stochastic process, with the fragment generation rate per disk area $p_{\rm frag}$ showing an exponential dependence on the parameter $β\equivΩ_K t_{cool}$, where $Ω_K$ is the Keplerian rotation frequency and $t_{cool}$ is the average cooling timescale. Compared to a prescribed constant $β$, radiative cooling in the optically thin/thick regime makes $p_{\rm frag}$ decrease slower/faster in $β$; the critical $β$ corresponding to $\sim 1$ fragment per orbit is $\approx$3, 5, 2 for constant $β$, optically thin, and optically thick cooling, respectively. The distribution function of the initial fragment mass is remarkably insensitive to disk thermodynamics. Regardless of cooling rate and optical depth, the typical initial fragment mass is $m_{frag} \approx 40 M_{tot}h^3$, with $M_{tot}$ being the total (star+disk) mass and $h=H/R$ being the disk aspect ratio. Applying this result to typical Class 0/I protostellar disks, we find $m_{frag}\sim 20 M_J$, suggesting that fragmentation more likely forms brown dwarfs. Given the finite width of the $m_{frag}$ distribution, forming massive planets is also possible.
title Global Simulations of Gravitational Instability in Protostellar Disks with Full Radiation Transport. I. Stochastic Fragmentation with Optical-depth-dependent Rate and Universal Fragment Mass
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.12042