Abstract
Abstract 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 of the vortex. We also compare vortex-driven spirals with those induced by planets. The surface density contrast of vortex-driven spirals in our simulations are comparable to those driven by a sub-thermal mass planet, typically a few to a few tens of Earth masses. In addition, different from the latter, the former is not sensitive to the mass of the vortex. Vortex-driven spiral arms are not expected to be detectable in current scattered light observations, and the prominent spirals observed in scattered light in a few protoplanetary disks, such as SAO 206462 (HD 135344B), MWC 758, and LkHα 330, are unlikely to be induced by the candidate vortices in them.
Highlights
In recent years, many circumstellar disks were resolved by high angular resolution infrared andmillimeter observations (Brogan et al 2015; Long et al 2018; Andrews et al 2018; Avenhaus et al 2018; Liu et al 2016; Huang et al 2018a,b)
Vortex-driven spiral arms are not expected to be detectable in current scattered light observations, and the prominent spirals observed in scattered light in a few protoplanetary disks, such as SAO 206462 (HD 135344B), MWC 758, and LkHα 330, are unlikely to be induced by the candidate vortices in them
Juhasz et al (2015) and Dong & Fung (2017) showed that when the surface density contrast of spiral arms is smaller than order unity, it is difficult to detect the spirals at tens of AU in systems at 140 pc under the angular resolution currently achievable in NIR scattered light imaging
Summary
Many circumstellar disks were resolved by high angular resolution infrared and (sub-)millimeter observations (Brogan et al 2015; Long et al 2018; Andrews et al 2018; Avenhaus et al 2018; Liu et al 2016; Huang et al 2018a,b) These disks present a large diversity in morphology, showing rings, cavities, spiral arms, and dust crescents, likely produced by planets (Ou et al 2007; Fung et al 2014; Zhu & Stone 2014; Jin et al 2016; Liu et al 2018; van der Marel et al 2018; Jin et al 2019).
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