Probing Conditions for Strong Clumping by the Streaming Instability: Small Dust Grains and Low Dust-to-gas Density Ratio

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lim, Jeonghoon, Simon, Jacob B., Li, Rixin, Carrera, Daniel, Baronett, Stanley A., Youdin, Andrew N., Lyra, Wladimir, Yang, Chao-Chin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Lim, Jeonghoon
Simon, Jacob B.
Li, Rixin
Carrera, Daniel
Baronett, Stanley A.
Youdin, Andrew N.
Lyra, Wladimir
Yang, Chao-Chin
author_facet Lim, Jeonghoon
Simon, Jacob B.
Li, Rixin
Carrera, Daniel
Baronett, Stanley A.
Youdin, Andrew N.
Lyra, Wladimir
Yang, Chao-Chin
contents The streaming instability (SI) is a leading mechanism for concentrating solid particles into regions dense enough to form planetesimals. Its efficiency in clumping particles depends primarily on the dimensionless stopping time ($τ_s$, a proxy for particle size) and dust-to-gas surface density ratio ($Z$). Previous simulations identified a critical $Z$ ($Z_{\rm{crit}}$) above which strong clumping occurs, where particle densities exceed the Hill density (thus satisfying a condition for gravitational collapse), over a wide range of $τ_s$. These works found that for $τ_s \leq 0.01$, $Z_{\rm{crit}}$ was above the ISM value $(\sim 0.01)$. In this work, we reexamine the clumping threshold using 2D axisymmetric, stratified simulations at high resolution and with relatively large (compared to many previous simulations) domain sizes. Our main results are as follows: First, when $τ_s = 0.01$, strong clumping occurs even at $Z \lesssim 0.01$, lower than $Z_{\rm{crit}}$ found in all previous studies. Consequently, we revise a previously published fit to the $Z_{\rm{crit}}$ curve to account for this updated $Z_{\rm{crit}}$. Second, higher resolution results in a thicker dust layer, which may result from other instabilities manifesting, such as the vertical shearing streaming instability. Third, despite this thicker layer, higher resolution can lead to strong clumping even with lower midplane dust-to-gas density ratios (which results from the thicker particle layer) so long as $Z \gtrsim Z_{\rm{crit}}$. Our results demonstrate the efficiency of the SI in clumping small particles at $Z \sim 0.01$, which is a significant refinement of the conditions for planetesimal formation by the SI.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_17319
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Probing Conditions for Strong Clumping by the Streaming Instability: Small Dust Grains and Low Dust-to-gas Density Ratio
Lim, Jeonghoon
Simon, Jacob B.
Li, Rixin
Carrera, Daniel
Baronett, Stanley A.
Youdin, Andrew N.
Lyra, Wladimir
Yang, Chao-Chin
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
The streaming instability (SI) is a leading mechanism for concentrating solid particles into regions dense enough to form planetesimals. Its efficiency in clumping particles depends primarily on the dimensionless stopping time ($τ_s$, a proxy for particle size) and dust-to-gas surface density ratio ($Z$). Previous simulations identified a critical $Z$ ($Z_{\rm{crit}}$) above which strong clumping occurs, where particle densities exceed the Hill density (thus satisfying a condition for gravitational collapse), over a wide range of $τ_s$. These works found that for $τ_s \leq 0.01$, $Z_{\rm{crit}}$ was above the ISM value $(\sim 0.01)$. In this work, we reexamine the clumping threshold using 2D axisymmetric, stratified simulations at high resolution and with relatively large (compared to many previous simulations) domain sizes. Our main results are as follows: First, when $τ_s = 0.01$, strong clumping occurs even at $Z \lesssim 0.01$, lower than $Z_{\rm{crit}}$ found in all previous studies. Consequently, we revise a previously published fit to the $Z_{\rm{crit}}$ curve to account for this updated $Z_{\rm{crit}}$. Second, higher resolution results in a thicker dust layer, which may result from other instabilities manifesting, such as the vertical shearing streaming instability. Third, despite this thicker layer, higher resolution can lead to strong clumping even with lower midplane dust-to-gas density ratios (which results from the thicker particle layer) so long as $Z \gtrsim Z_{\rm{crit}}$. Our results demonstrate the efficiency of the SI in clumping small particles at $Z \sim 0.01$, which is a significant refinement of the conditions for planetesimal formation by the SI.
title Probing Conditions for Strong Clumping by the Streaming Instability: Small Dust Grains and Low Dust-to-gas Density Ratio
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.17319