The effect of long-lived vortical circulation on the dynamics of dust particles in the mid-plane of a protoplanetary disc

Abstract

We investigate the response of dust particles in the mid-plane of a protoplanetary disc to the turbulent velocity field of long-lived, large-scale vortical circulation. The dynamical problem is studied through numerical integrations of the equations of motion for individual particles (the sizes of which range from centimetres to metres) subject to the solar gravity and the friction drag of the nebular gas. It is found, neglecting the thickness of the disc, that the particles do not drift inwards to the central star as occurs in a standard symmetrical nebula. Vortices tend to capture a large number of the particles. The effectiveness of this size-selective concentration mechanism depends not only on the value of the drag and the distance from the Sun, but also on the elongation of the vortex and its characteristic lifetime. Typical anticyclonic vortices with exponential decay times of 30 orbital periods and semi-axis ratios of 4 can increase the local surface density by a factor of 4 in a lifetime and accumulate 0.03–0.3 Earth masses. If the elongation is significant (>7), the vortex cannot concentrate any significant amount of solid material. Vortices with an elongation of about 2 are the most effective as regards trapping of dust. We have also found analytical expressions for the capture time as well as capture constraints as a function of the friction parameter, the elongation of the vortex and the impact parameter. By increasing the lifetime and the surface density of the solid particles, this confining mechanism can make the agglomeration of the solid material of the nebula (through collisional aggregation or gravitational instabilities) much more efficient than previously believed. This offers new possibilities for the formation of the planetesimals and the giant planet cores, and may explain the rapid formation of extrasolar giant planets.