The formation of planetesimals via gravitational instability of the dust layer in a protoplanetary disks demands that there be local patches where dust is concentrated by a factor of $\sim$ a few $\times 10^3$ over the background value. Vortices in protoplanetary disks may concentrate dust to these values allowing them to be the nurseries of planetesimals. The concentration of dust in the cores of vortices increases the dust-gas ratio of the core compared to the background disk, creating a "heavy vortex." In this work, we show that these vortices are subject to an instability which we have called the heavy-core instability. Using Floquet theory, we show that this instability occurs in elliptical protoplanetary vortices when the gas-dust density of the core of the vortex is heavier than the ambient gas-dust density by a few tens of percent. The heavy-core instability grows very rapidly, with a growth timescale of a few vortex rotation periods. While the nonlinear evolution of this instability remains unknown, it will likely increase the velocity dispersion of the dust layer in the vortex because instability sets in well before sufficient dust can gather to form a protoplanetary seed. This instability may thus preclude vortices from being sites of planetesimal formation.
Vortices have long been speculated to play a role in planet formation, via the collection of dust in the pressure maxima that arise at the cores of vortices in protoplanetary discs. The question remains however: as dust collects in the core of a vortex, when does that vortex remain stable and able to collect further dust, and when and why does it break up? We study this question by running high resolution 2D simulations of dust laden vortices. By using the terminal velocity approximation in a local shearing box it was possible to efficiently run simulations of back-reacting dust in a gas at hi…
This contribution describes the evolution of the protoplanetary disk using 2D numerical simulations. The 2D Euler equations are solved with the finite volume method. The numerical simulations are used to study the persistence and migration of anticyclonic vortices. Two cases are presented : (1) vortices produced by the Rossby Waves Instability, (2) a non-linear vortex model initially implemented into the disk. The migration of the vortices is due to spiral density waves excited by the vortex in the gas of the disk.
We carried out two-dimensional high-resolution simulations to study the effect of dust feedback on the evolution of vortices induced by massive planets in protoplanetary disks. Various initial dust to gas disk surface density ratios ($0.001$ -- $0.01$) and dust particle sizes (Stokes number $4\times10^{-4}$ -- $0.16$) are considered. We found that while dust particles migrate inwards, vortices are very effective in collecting them. When dust density becomes comparable to gas density within the vortex, a dynamical instability is excited and it alters the coherent vorticity pattern and destroys …
Recent observations of large-scale asymmetric features in protoplanetary disks suggest that large-scale vortices exist in such disks. Massive planets are known to be able to produce deep gaps in protoplanetary disks. The gap edges could become hydrodynamically unstable to the Rossby wave/vortex instability and form large-scale vortices. In this study we examine the long term evolution of these vortices by carrying out high-resolution two dimensional hydrodynamic simulations that last more than $10^4$ orbits (measured at the planet's orbit). We find that the disk viscosity has a strong influenc…
When ice on the surface of dust grains in protoplanetary disk sublimates, it adds its latent heat of water sublimation to the surrounding flow. Drawing on the analogy provided by tropical cyclones on Earth, we investigate if this energy source is sufficient to sustain or magnify anticyclonic disk vortices that would otherwise fall victim to viscous dissipation. An analytical treatment, supported by exploratory two-dimensional simulations, suggests that even modestly under-saturated flows can extend the lifetime of vortices, potentially to a degree sufficient to aid particle trapping and planet…
A massive planet in a protoplanetary disc will open a gap in the disc material. A steep gap edge can be hydrodynamically unstable, which results in the formation of vortices that can act as tracers for the presence of planets in observational results. However, in a viscous disc, the potential formation of these vortices is dependent on the timescale over which the massive planet accretes mass and with a sufficiently long timescale it is possible for no vortices to form. Hence, there is a connection between the presence of vortices and the growth timescale of the planet and it may therefore be …
Several protoplanetary disks observed by ALMA show dust concentrations consistent with particle trapping in giant vortices. The formation and survival of vortices is of major importance for planet formation, because vortices act as particle traps and are therefore preferred locations of planetesimal formation. Recent studies showed that the vertical shear instability (VSI) is capable of generating turbulence and small vortices in protoplanetary disks that have the proper radial and vertical stratification and thermally relax on sufficiently short time scales. But the effect of the azimuthal ex…
We identify a new hydrodynamical instability in protoplanetary discs that may arise due to variations in the dust-to-gas ratio and may lead to concentration of dust grains within a disc. The instability can arise due to dust settling, which produces a vertical compositional entropy gradient. The entropy gradient drives a baroclinic instability that is capable of creating toroidal gas vortices that gather dust into rings. Such dust rings are potentially observable via continuum emission of the dust or scattered light. Indeed, this instability may offer an explanation for the rings recently obse…
It is believed that large-scale horseshoe-like brightness asymmetries found in dozens of transitional protoplanetary discs are caused by anticyclonic vortices. These vortices can play a key role in planet formation, as mm-sized dust -- the building blocks of planets -- can be accumulated inside them. Anticyclonic vortices are formed by the Rossby wave instability, which can be excited at the gap edges opened by a giant planet or at sharp viscosity transitions of accretionally inactive regions. It is known that vortices are prone to stretching and subsequent dissolution due to disc self-gravity…
If sufficiently irradiated by its central star, a protoplanetary disks falls into an equilibrium state exhibiting vertical shear. This state may be subject to a hydrodynamical instability, the `vertical shear instability' (VSI), whose breakdown into turbulence transports a moderate amount of angular momentum while also facilitating planet formation, possibly via the production of small-scale vortices. In this paper, we show that VSI modes (a) exhibit arbitrary spatial profiles and (b) remain nonlinear solutions to the incompressible local equations, no matter their amplitude. The modes are the…
It is expected that a pressure bump can be formed at the inner edge of a dead-zone, and where vortices can develop through the Rossby Wave Instability (RWI). It has been suggested that self-gravity can significantly affect the evolution of such vortices. We present the results of 2D hydrodynamical simulations of the evolution of vortices forming at a pressure bump in self-gravitating discs with Toomre parameter in the range $4-30$. We consider isothermal plus non-isothermal disc models that employ either the classical $β$ prescription or a more realistic treatment for cooling. The main aim is …
We present the results of 2D and 3D hydrodynamic simulations of idealized protoplanetary discs that examine the formation and evolution of vortices by the vertical shear instability (VSI). In agreement with recent work, we find that discs with radially decreasing temperature profiles and short thermal relaxation time-scales, are subject to the axisymmetric VSI. In three dimensions, the resulting velocity perturbations give rise to quasi-axisymmetric potential vorticity perturbations that break-up into discrete vortices, in a manner that is reminiscent of the Rossby wave instability. Discs with…
Large-scale persistent vortices are known to form easily in 2D disks via the Rossby wave or the baroclinic instability. In 3D, however, their formation and stability is a complex issue and still a matter of debate. We study the formation of vortices by the Rossby wave instability in a stratified inviscid disk and describe their three dimensional structure, stability and long term evolution. Numerical simulations are performed using a fully compressible hydrodynamical code based on a second order finite volume method. We assume a perfect gas law and a non-homentropic adiabatic flow.The Rossby w…
Young planets embedded in protoplanetary discs (PPDs) excite spiral density waves, which propagate, shock and deposit angular momentum in the disc. This results in gap opening around the planetary orbit, even for low (sub-thermal) mass planets, provided that the effective viscosity in the disc is low. The edges of these planet-induced gaps are known to be prone to emergence of observable vortices via the Rossby Wave Instability (RWI). We study timescales for the development of vortices driven by low mass planets in inviscid discs. We employ a recently developed semi-analytical theory of vorten…
We carry out two-fluid, two-dimensional global hydrodynamic simulations to test whether protostellar infall can trigger Rossby wave instability (RWI) in protoplanetry disks. Our results show that infall can trigger the RWI and generate vortices near the outer edge of the mass landing on the disk (i.e. centrifugal radius). We find that the RWI is triggered under a variety of conditions, although the details depend on the disk parameters and the infall pattern. The common key feature of triggering the RWI is the steep radial gradient of the azimuthal velocity induced by the local increase in den…
Large scale vortices could play a key role in the evolution of protoplanetary disks, particularly in the dead-zone where no turbulence associated with magnetic field is expected. Their possible formation by the subcritical baroclinic instability is a complex issue due to the vertical structure of the disk and to the elliptical instability.} {In two-dimensional disks the baroclinic instability is studied as a function of the thermal transfer efficiency. In three-dimensional disks we explore the importance of radial and vertical stratification on the processes of vortex formation and amplificati…
In an earlier letter, we reported that dust settling in protoplanetary discs may lead to a dynamical dust-gas instability that produces global toroidal vortices. In this letter, we investigate the evolution of a dusty protoplanetary disc with two different dust species (1 mm and 50 cm dust grains), under the presence of the instability. We show how toroidal vortices, triggered by the interaction of mm grains with the gas, stop the radial migration of metre-sized dust, potentially offering a natural and efficient solution to the dust migration problem.
We study the dust concentration and emission in protoplanetary disks vortices. We extend the Lyra-Lin solution for the dust concentration of a single grain size to a power-law distribution of grain sizes $n(a) \propto a^{-p}$. Assuming dust conservation in the disk, we find an analytic dust surface density as a function of the grain radius. We calculate the increase of the dust to gas mass ratio $ε$ and the slope $p$ of the dust size distribution due to grain segregation within the vortex. We apply this model to a numerical simulation of a disk containing a persistent vortex. Due to the accumu…
The core accretion scenario of planet formation assumes that planetesimals and planetary embryos are formed during the primordial, gaseous phases of the protoplanetary disk. However, how the dust particles overcome the traditional growth barriers is not well understood. The recently proposed viscous ring-instability may explain the concentric rings observed in protoplanetary disks by assuming that the dust grains can reduce the gas conductivity, which can weaken the magneto-rotational instability. We present an analysis of this model with the help of GPU-based numerical hydrodynamic simulation…
Large-scale vortices in protoplanetary disks are thought to form and survive for long periods of time. Hence, they can significantly change the global disk evolution and particularly the distribution of the solid particles embedded in the gas, possibly explaining asymmetries and dust concentrations recently observed at sub-millimeter and millimeter wavelengths. We investigate the spatial distribution of dust grains using a simple model of protoplanetary disk hosted by a giant gaseous vortex. We explore the dependence of the results on grain size and deduce possible consequences and predictions…
We study dust capture by vortices and its long-term consequences in global two-fluid inviscid disk simulations using a new polar grid code RoSSBi. We perform the longest integrations so far, several hundred disk orbits, at the highest resolution attainable in global simulations of disks with dust, namely 2048x4096 grid points. This allows to study the dust evolution well beyond vortex dissipation. We vary a wide range of parameters, most notably the dust-to-gas ratio in the initial setup varies in the range $10^{-3}$ to $0.1$. Irrespective of the initial dust-to-gas ratio we find rapid concent…
The substructures observed in protoplanetary disks may be the signposts of embedded planets carving gaps or creating vortices. The inferred masses of these planets often fall in the Jovian regime despite their low abundance compared to lower-mass planets, partly because previous works often assume that a single substructure (a gap or vortex) is caused by a single planet. In this work, we study the possible imprints of compact systems composed of Neptune-like planets ($\sim10-30\;M_\oplus$) and show that long-standing vortices are a prevalent outcome when their inter-planetary separation ($Δa$)…
In the context of planet formation, anticyclonic vortices have recently received lots of attention for the role they can play in planetesimals formation. Radial migration of intermediate size solids toward the central star may prevent their growth to larger solid grains. On the other hand, vortices can trap the dust and accelerate this growth, counteracting fast radial transport. Multiple effects have been shown to affect this scenario, such as vortex migration or decay. The aim of this paper is to study the formation of vortices by the Rossby wave instability and their long term evolution in …
Turbulent, two-dimensional, hydrodynamic flows are characterized by the emergence of coherent, long-lived vortices without a need to invoke special initial conditions. Vortices have the ability to sequester particles, with typical radii from about 1 mm to 10 cm, that are slightly decoupled from the gas. A generic feature of discs with surface density and effective temperature profiles that are decreasing, power-law functions of radial distance is that four vortex zones exist for a fixed particle size. In particular, two of the zones form an annulus at intermediate radial distances within which…
It has been suggested that the transition between magnetorotationally active and dead zones in protoplanetary disks should be prone to the excitation of vortices via Rossby wave instability (RWI). However, the only numerical evidence for this has come from alpha disk models, where the magnetic field evolution is not followed, and the effect of turbulence is parametrized by Laplacian viscosity. We aim to establish the phenomenology of the flow in the transition in 3D resistive-magnetohydrodynamical models. We model the transition by a sharp jump in resistivity, as expected in the inner dead zon…
High-resolution sub-mm observations of some protoplanetary discs reveal non-asixymmetric features, which can often be interpreted as dust concentrations in vortices that form at the edges of gaps carved out by the embedded planets. We use recent results on the timescale for the planet-driven vortex development in low-viscosity discs to set constraints on the mass and age of a planet producing the vortex. Knowledge of the age of the central star in a vortex-bearing protoplanetary disc system allows one to set a lower limit on the planetary mass at the level of several tens of $M_\oplus$. Also, …
Recently it has been proposed that the zombie vortex instability (ZVI) could precipitate hydrodynamical activity and angular momentum transport in unmagnetised regions of protoplanetary discs, also known as "dead zones". In this letter we scrutinise, with high resolution 3D spectral simulations, the onset and survival of this instability in the presence of viscous and thermal physics. First, we find that the ZVI is strongly dependent on the nature of the viscous operator. Although the ZVI is easily obtained with hyper-diffusion, it is difficult to sustain with physical (second order) diffusion…
Large-scale, dust-trapping vortices may account for observations of asymmetric protoplanetary discs. Disc vortices are also potential sites for accelerated planetesimal formation by concentrating dust grains. However, in 3D discs vortices are subject to destructive `elliptic instabilities', which reduces their viability as dust traps. The survival of vortices in 3D accretion discs is thus an important issue to address. In this work, we perform shearing box simulations to show that disc self-gravity enhances the survival of 3D vortices, even when self-gravity is weak in the classic sense (e.g. …
The physical mechanism of angular momentum transport in poorly ionized regions of protoplanetary discs, the dead zones (DZs), is not understood. The presence of a DZ naturally leads to conditions susceptible to the Rossby wave instability (RWI), which produces vortices and spiral density waves that may revive the DZ and be responsible for observed large-scale disc structures. We present a series of two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations to investigate the role of the RWI in DZs, including its impact on the long-term evolution of the disc and its morphology. The nonlinear RWI can generate Rey…
Turbulence and angular momentum transport in accretion disks remains a topic of debate. With the realization that dead zones are robust features of protoplanetary disks, the search for hydrodynamical sources of turbulence continues. A possible source is the baroclinic instability (BI), which has been shown to exist in unmagnetized non-barotropic disks. We present shearing box simulations of baroclinicly unstable, magnetized, 3D disks, in order to assess the interplay between the BI and other instabilities, namely the magneto-rotational instability (MRI) and the magneto-elliptical instability. …
Some circumstellar disks are observed to show prominent spiral arms in infrared scattered light or (sub-)millimeter dust continuum. The spirals might be formed from self-gravity, shadows, or planet-disk interactions. Recently, it was hypothesized that massive vortices can drive spiral arms in protoplanetary disks in a way analogous to planets. In this paper, we study the basic properties of vortex-driven spirals by the Rossby Wave Instability in 2D hydrodynamics simulations. We study how the surface density contrast, the number, and the shape of vortex-driven spirals depend on the properties o…
Azimuthally asymmetric structures have been discovered in millimeter continuum emission from many protoplanetary disks. One hypothesis is that they are vortices produced by the Rossby wave instability, for example at edges of planet-opened gaps or deadzones. Confirming the vortex nature of these structures will have profound implications to planet formation. One way to test the hypothesis is to compare the observed morphology of vortex candidates in near-infrared scattered light with theoretical expectations. To this end, we synthesize the appearance of vortices in H-band polarized light by co…
This chapter highlights the properties of turbulence and meso-scale flow structures in protoplanetary disks and their role in the planet formation process. Here we focus on the formation of planetesimals from a gravitational collapse of a pebble cloud. Large scale and long lived flow structures - vortices and zonal flows - are a consequence of weak magneto and hydrodynamic instabilities in the pressure and entropy stratified quasi-Keplerian shear flow interacting with the fast rotation of the disk. The vortices and zonal flows on the other hand are particle traps tapping into the radial pebble…
Vortex formation through the Rossby wave instability (RWI) in protoplanetary discs has been invoked to play a role in planet formation theory, and suggested to explain the observation of large dust asymmetries in several transitional discs. However, whether or not vortex formation operates in layered accretion discs, i.e. models of protoplanetary discs including dead zones near the disc midplane --- regions that are magnetically inactive and the effective viscosity greatly reduced --- has not been verified. As a first step toward testing the robustness of vortex formation in layered discs, we …
We consider the radial migration of vortices in two-dimensional isothermal gaseous disks. We find that a vortex core, orbiting at the local gas velocity, induces velocity perturbations that propagate away from the vortex as density waves. The resulting spiral wave pattern is reminiscent of an embedded planet. There are two main causes for asymmetries in these wakes: geometrical effects tend to favor the outer wave, while a radial vortensity gradient leads to an asymmetric vortex core, which favors the wave at the side that has the lowest density. In the case of asymmetric waves, which we alway…
It is demonstrated how Saturn rings may be originated due to interaction of iced particles (with II kind superconductivity) moving by chaotic orbits within protoplanetary cloud with magnetic field of Saturn after it appearance. Eventually all orbits of particles coming to the magnetic equator plane of Saturn where they locked within three-dimensional magnetic well due to minimum of the particles magnetic energy at the magnetic equator and quantum trapping by Abrikosov vortices. It also explains peculiarities of the rings pattern and many of observed phenomena
Magnetic fields significantly influence the evolution of protoplanetary disks and the formation of planets, following the predictions of numerous magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. However, these predictions are yet observationally unconstrained. To validate the predictions on the influence of magnetic fields on protoplanetary disks, we apply 3D radiative transfer simulations of the polarized emission of aligned aspherical dust grains that directly link 3D global non-ideal MHD simulations to ALMA observations. Our simulations show that it is feasible to observe the predicted toroidal large…
We investigate the evolution of dust and gas in the vicinity of local pressure enhancements (pressure bumps) in a protoplanetary disc (PPD) with turbulence due to the Vertical Shear Instability (VSI). We perform global 2D axisymmetric and 3D simulations of dust and gas for a range of values for Z (ratio of dust-to-gas (d/g) surface mass densities or metallicity), particle Stokes numbers tau, and pressure bump amplitude A. Dust feedback onto the gas is included. For the first time we demonstrate in global 3D simulations the collection of dust in long-lived vortices induced by the VSI. Without a…
Several nearby protoplanetary disks have been observed to display large scale crescents in the (sub)millimeter dust continuum emission. One interpretation is that these structures correspond to anticyclonic vortices generated by the Rossby wave instability within the gaseous disk. Such vortices have local gas over-densities and are expected to concentrate dust particles with Stokes number around unity. This process might catalyze the formation of planetesimals. Whereas recent observations showed that dust crescent are indeed regions where millimeter-size particles have abnormally high concentr…
In this work, we study how the dust coagulation/fragmentation will influence the evolution and observational appearances of vortices induced by a massive planet embedded in a low viscosity disk by performing global 2D high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations. Within the vortex, due to its higher gas surface density and steeper pressure gradients, dust coagulation, fragmentation and drift (to the vortex center) are all quite efficient, producing dust particles ranging from micron to $\sim 1.0\ {\rm cm}$, as well as overall high dust-to-gas ratio (above unity). In addition, the dust size distr…
One of the most challenging steps in planet formation theory is the one leading to the formation of planetesimals of kilometre size. A promising scenario involves the existence of vortices able to concentrate a large amount of dust and grains in their centres. Up to now this scenario has been studied mostly in 2D razor thin disks. A 3D study including, simultaneously, the formation and resulting dust concentration of the vortices with vertical settling, was still missing. The Rossby wave instability self-consistently forms 3D vortices, which have the unique quality of presenting a large scale …
Horseshoe-shaped brightness asymmetries of several transitional discs are thought to be caused by large-scale vortices. Anticyclonic vortices are efficiently collect dust particles, therefore they can play a major role in planet formation. Former studies suggest that the disc self-gravity weakens vortices formed at the edge of the gap opened by a massive planet in discs whose masses are in the range of 0.01<=M_disc/M_*<=0.1. Here we present an investigation on the long-term evolution of the large-scale vortices formed at the viscosity transition of the discs' dead zone outer edge by means of t…
In order to circumvent the loss of solid material through radial drift towards the central star, the trapping of dust inside persistent vortices in protoplanetary discs has often been suggested as a process that can eventually lead to planetesimal formation. Although a few special cases have been discussed, exhaustive studies of possible quasi-steady configurations available for dust-laden vortices and their stability have yet to be undertaken, thus their viability or otherwise as locations for the gravitational instability to take hold and seed planet formation is unclear. In this paper we ge…
Resolved ALMA and VLA observations indicate the existence of two dust traps in the protoplanetary disc MWC 758. By means of 2D gas+dust hydrodynamical simulations post-processed with 3D dust radiative transfer calculations, we show that the spirals in scattered light, the eccentric, asymmetric ring and the crescent-shaped structure in the (sub)millimetre can all be caused by two giant planets: a 1.5-Jupiter mass planet at 35 au (inside the spirals) and a 5-Jupiter mass planet at 140 au (outside the spirals). The outer planet forms a dust-trapping vortex at the inner edge of its gap (at ~85 au)…
This paper explores the driving of low-level hydrodynamical activity in protoplanetary-disc dead zones. A small adverse radial entropy gradient, ordinarily stabilised by rotation, excites oscillatory convection (`convective overstability') when thermal diffusion, or cooling, is neither too strong nor too weak. I revisit the linear theory of the instability, discuss its prevalence in protoplanetary discs, and show that unstable modes are exact nonlinear solutions in the local Boussinesq limit. Overstable modes cannot grow indefinitely, however, as they are subject to a secondary parametric inst…
Motivated by the stability of dust laden vortices, in this paper we study the terminal velocity approximation equations for a gas coupled to a pressureless dust fluid and present a numerical solver for the equations embedded in the FARGO3D hydrodynamics code. We show that for protoplanetary discs it is possible to use the baricenter velocity in the viscous stress tensor, making it trivial to simulate viscous dusty protoplanetary discs with this model. We also show that the terminal velocity model breaks down around shocks, becoming incompatible with the two fluid model it is derived from. Fina…
Recent observations revealed organised structures in protoplanetary disks, such as axisymmetric rings or horseshoe concen- trations evocative of large-scale vortices. These structures are often interpreted as the result of planet-disc interactions. However, these disks are also known to be unstable to the magneto-rotational instability (MRI) which is believed to be one of the dominant angular momentum transport mechanism in these objects. It is therefore natural to ask if the MRI itself could produce these structures without invoking planets. The nonlinear evolution of the MRI is strongly affe…
In protoplanetary disks, the inner boundary between the turbulent and laminar regions is a promising site for planet formation because solids may become trapped at the interface itself or in vortices generated by the Rossby wave instability. The disk thermodynamics and the turbulent dynamics at that location are entwined because of the importance of turbulent dissipation on thermal ionization and, conversely, of thermal ionisation on the turbulence. However, most previous work has neglected this dynamical coupling and have thus missed a key element of the physics in this region. In this paper,…
We analyse the concentration of solid particles in vortices created and sustained by radial buoyancy in protoplanetary disks, i.e. baroclinic vortex growth. Besides the gas drag acting on particles we also allow for back-reaction from dust onto the gas. This becomes important when the local dust-to-gas ratio approaches unity. In our 2D, local, shearing sheet simulations we see high concentrations of grains inside the vortices for a broad range of Stokes numbers, ${\rm St}$. An initial dust-to-gas ratio of 1:100 can easily be reversed to 100:1 for ${\rm St}=1$. The increased dust-to-gas ratio t…
Small solids embedded in gaseous protoplanetary disks are subject to strong dust-gas friction. Consequently, tightly-coupled dust particles almost follow the gas flow. This near conservation of dust-to-gas ratio along streamlines is analogous to the near conservation of entropy along flows of (dust-free) gas with weak heating and cooling. We develop this thermodynamic analogy into a framework to study dusty gas dynamics in protoplanetary disks. We show that an isothermal dusty gas behaves like an adiabatic pure gas; and that finite dust-gas coupling may be regarded as an effective heating/cool…
Hydrodynamical instabilities in disks around young stars depend on the thermodynamic stratification of the disk and on the local rate of thermal relaxation. Here, we map the spatial extent of unstable regions for the Vertical Shear Instability (VSI), the Convective OverStability (COS), and the amplification of vortices via the Subcritical Baroclinic Instability (SBI). We use steady state accretion disk models, including stellar irradiation, accretion heating and radiative transfer. We determine the local radial and vertical stratification and thermal relaxation rate in the disk, in dependence …
