A new view of proto-planetary disks with ALMA

Abstract

The dynamical, physical and chemical processes which lead to planet formation constitute an astrophysical domain which will strongly benefit from ALMA in terms of frequency coverage, sensitivity and angular resolution. Recent results from current mm/submm interferometers obtained on molecules and dust in proto-planetary disks are presented. The observational coupling between gas and dust is discussed and it is shown that dust disks must be analyzed with the knowledge provided by gas disks, and respectively, both from the chemical and physical points. For these purposes, the methods of analysis of mm/submm interferometric data specific to disks are summarized. Emphasis is given on recent, unexpected, findings obtained in the highest sensitivity and resolution observations obtained so far, as they provide a hint of what ALMA could discover. A comparison with the expected sensitivities for ALMA illustrates how ALMA can enhance our knowledge of the disk physics, either by providing statistics or by allowing much more detailed studies of representative objects.