Estimate on Dust Scale Height from the ALMA Dust Continuum Image of the HD 163296 Protoplanetary Disk

Abstract

Abstract We aim at estimating the dust scale height of protoplanetary disks from millimeter continuum observations. First, we present a general expression of intensity of a ring in a protoplanetary disk and show that we can constrain the dust scale height by the azimuthal intensity variation. Then, we apply the presented methodology to the two distinct rings at 68 au and at 100 au of the protoplanetary disk around HD 163296. We constrain the dust scale height by comparing the high-resolution millimeter dust continuum image obtained in the Disk Substructures at High Angular Resolution Project (DSHARP) with radiative transfer simulations using RADMC-3D. We find that h d/h g > 0.84 at the inner ring and h d/h g < 0.11 at the outer ring with 3σ uncertainties, where h d is the dust scale height and h g is the gas scale height. This indicates that the dust is flared at the inner ring and settled at the outer ring. We further constrain the ratio of the turbulence parameter α to the gas-to-dust-coupling parameter St from the derived dust scale height; α/St > 2.4 at the inner ring, and α/St < 1.1 × 10 − 2 at the outer ring. This result shows that the turbulence is stronger or the dust is smaller at the inner ring than at the outer ring.