Instabilities at planetary gap edges in 3D self-gravitating disks

Instabilities at planetary gap edges in 3D self-gravitating disks

Blog Article

Numerical simulations are presented to study the stability of gaps opened by giant planets in 3D self-gravitating disks.In weakly self-gravitating disks, a few vortices develop 343 at the gap edge and merge on orbital time-scales.The result is one large but weak vortex with Rossby number -0.01.In moderately self-gravitating disks, more vortices develop and their merging is resisted on dynamical time-scales.

Self-gravity can sustain multi-vortex configurations, with Rossby number -0.2 to -0.1, over a time-scale of order 100 orbits.Self-gravity also enhances the vortex vertical density stratification, even in disks with initial Toomre parameter of order 10.However, vortex formation is suppressed in strongly self-gravitating disks and replaced by a global spiral instability associated with the gap edge which develops during Beanbags gap formation.