Timmy Delage  (France)

delage @ mpia.de

Investigating the Diverse Origins of Sub-Structures in Protoplanetary Disks

Some of the observed protoplanetary disks display clear sub-structures (e.g. rings, gaps, cavities) corresponding to dust particles trapping.
The desired explanation would be that a forming planet interacts with the disk to generate dust particles traps, resulting in the accumulation of dust there and triggering the formation of other planets.
Although appealing, this scenario does not provide any explanations for how gas and dust initially behave to form the first planet that would then create such dust particles traps. Also, planets have only been confirmed in one protoplanetary disk so far (PDS70).
My PhD project therefore aims to investigate the diverse origins of the sub-structures observed in protoplanetary disks. To address this topic, I am building hydrodynamic and (ideal/non-ideal) magneto-hydrodynamic models coupled with gas and dust evolution. From those models, I am generating synthetic observations that I am comparing to current multi-wavelength (from optical to millimetre) observations from e.g. ALMA or VLT/SPHERE. Doing this comparison is key in refining the current interpretation of observations and understanding the first steps of planet formation.

Supervisor:     Paola Pinilla   (MPIA)