Protoplanetary disk rings and gaps across ages and luminosities. (arXiv:1901.03680v1 [astro-ph.EP])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Marel_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">Nienke van der Marel</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Dong_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Ruobing Dong</a> (2), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Francesco_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">James di Francesco</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Williams_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jonathan Williams</a> (3), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Tobin_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">John Tobin</a> (4) ((1) NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics, (2) University of Victoria, (3) University of Hawaii, (4) NRAO Charlottesville)

Since the discovery of the multi-ring structure of the HL Tau disk, ALMA data
suggest that the dust continuum emission of many, if not all, protoplanetary
disks consists of rings and gaps, no matter their spectral type or age. The
origin of these gaps so far remains unclear. We present a sample study of 16
disks with multiple ring-like structures in the continuum, using published ALMA
archival data, to compare their morphologies and gap locations in a systematic
way. The 16 targets range from early to late type stars, from <0.5 Myr to >10
Myr, from ~0.2 to 40 L_Sun and include both full and transitional disks with
cleared inner dust cavities. Stellar ages are revised using new Gaia distances.
Gap locations are derived using a simple radial fit to the intensity profiles.
Using a radiative transfer model, the temperature profiles are computed. The
gap radii generally do not correspond to the orbital radii of snow lines of the
most common molecules. A snow line model can likely be discarded as a common
origin of multi-ring systems. In addition, there are no systematic trends in
the gap locations that could be related to resonances of planets. Finally, the
outer radius of the disks decreases for the oldest disks in the sample,
indicating that if multi-ring disks evolve in a similar way, outer dust rings
either dissipate with the gas or grow into planetesimal belts.

Since the discovery of the multi-ring structure of the HL Tau disk, ALMA data
suggest that the dust continuum emission of many, if not all, protoplanetary
disks consists of rings and gaps, no matter their spectral type or age. The
origin of these gaps so far remains unclear. We present a sample study of 16
disks with multiple ring-like structures in the continuum, using published ALMA
archival data, to compare their morphologies and gap locations in a systematic
way. The 16 targets range from early to late type stars, from <0.5 Myr to >10
Myr, from ~0.2 to 40 L_Sun and include both full and transitional disks with
cleared inner dust cavities. Stellar ages are revised using new Gaia distances.
Gap locations are derived using a simple radial fit to the intensity profiles.
Using a radiative transfer model, the temperature profiles are computed. The
gap radii generally do not correspond to the orbital radii of snow lines of the
most common molecules. A snow line model can likely be discarded as a common
origin of multi-ring systems. In addition, there are no systematic trends in
the gap locations that could be related to resonances of planets. Finally, the
outer radius of the disks decreases for the oldest disks in the sample,
indicating that if multi-ring disks evolve in a similar way, outer dust rings
either dissipate with the gas or grow into planetesimal belts.

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