Chemical Evolution Of Protoplanetary Disks Research Articles

Aqueous Alteration on Asteroids Simplifies Soluble Organic Matter Mixtures

Abstract Biologically relevant abiotic extraterrestrial soluble organic matter (SOM) has been widely investigated to study the origin of life and the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks. Synthesis of biologically relevant organics, in particular, seems to require aqueous environments in the early solar system. However, SOM in primitive meteorites includes numerous chemical species besides the biologically relevant ones, and the reaction mechanisms that comprehensively explain the complex nature of SOM are unknown. Besides, the initial reactants, which formed before asteroid accretion, were uncharacterized. We examined the mass distribution of SOM extracted from three distinct Tagish Lake meteorite fragments, which exhibit different degrees of aqueous alteration though they originated from a single asteroid. We report that mass distributions of SOM in the primordial fragments are well fit by the Schulz–Zimm (SZ) model for the molecular weight distribution patterns found in chain-growth polymerization experiments. Also, the distribution patterns diverge further from SZ with increasing degrees of aqueous alteration. These observations imply that the complex nature of the primordial SOM (1) was established before severe alteration on the asteroid, (2) possibly existed before parent-body accretion, and (3) later became simplified on the asteroid. Therefore, aqueous reactions on asteroids are not required conditions for cultivating complex SOM. Furthermore, we found that overall H/C ratios of SOM decrease with increasing aqueous alteration, and the estimate of H loss from the SOM is 10%–30%. Organics seem to be a significant H2 source that may have caused subsequent chemical reactions in the Tagish Lake meteorite parent body.

Chemistry Along Accretion Streams in a Viscously Evolving Protoplanetary Disk

Abstract The composition of a protoplanetary disk is set by a combination of interstellar inheritance and gas and grain surface chemical reactions within the disk. The survival of inherited molecules, as well as the disk in situ chemistry depends on the local temperature, density and irradiation environment, which can change over time due to stellar and disk evolution, as well as transport in the disk. We address one aspect of this coupling between the physical and chemical evolution in disks by following accretion streamlines of gas and small grains in the disk midplane, while simultaneously taking the evolving star into account. This approach is computationally efficient and enables us to take into account changing physical conditions without reducing the chemical network. We find that many species are enhanced in the inner disk midplane in the dynamic model due to inward transport of cosmic-ray driven chemical products, resulting in, e.g., orders of magnitude hydrocarbon enhancements at 1 au, compared to a static disk. For several other chemical families, there is no difference between the static and dynamic models, indicative of a robust chemical reset, while yet others show differences between static and dynamic models that depend on complex interactions between physics and chemistry during the inward track. The importance of coupling dynamics and chemistry when modeling the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks thus depends on what chemistry is of interest.

Accelerated Gillespie Algorithm for Gas–Grain Reaction Network Simulations Using Quasi-steady-state Assumption

Abstract Although the Gillespie algorithm is accurate in simulating gas–grain reaction networks, so far its computational cost is so expensive that it cannot be used to simulate chemical reaction networks that include molecular hydrogen accretion or the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks. We present an accelerated Gillespie algorithm that is based on a quasi-steady-state assumption with the further approximation that the population distribution of transient species depends only on the accretion and desorption processes. The new algorithm is tested against a few reaction networks that are simulated by the regular Gillespie algorithm. We found that the less likely it is that transient species are formed and destroyed on grain surfaces, the more accurate the new method is. We also apply the new method to simulate reaction networks that include molecular hydrogen accretion. The results show that surface chemical reactions involving molecular hydrogen are not important for the production of surface species under standard physical conditions of dense molecular clouds.

The role of OH in the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks

Context. We present a method for including gas extinction of cosmic-ray-generated UV photons in chemical models of the midplane of protoplanetary disks, focusing on its implications on ice formation and chemical evolution. Aims. Our goal is to improve on chemical models by treating cosmic rays, the main source of ionization in the midplane of the disk, in a way that is consistent with current knowledge of the gas and grain environment present in those regions. We trace the effects of cosmic rays by identifying the main chemical reaction channels and also the main contributors to the gas opacity to cosmic-ray-induced UV photons. This information is crucial in implementing gas opacities for cosmic-ray-induced reactions in full 2D protoplanetary disk models. Methods. We considered time-dependent chemical models within the range 1-10 AU in the midplane of a T Tauri disk. The extinction of cosmic-ray-induced UV photons by gaseous species was included in the calculation of photorates at each timestep. We integrated the ionization and dissociation cross sections of all atoms/molecules over the cosmic-ray-induced UV emission spectrum of H_2. By analyzing the relative contribution of each gas phase species over time, we were able to identify the main contributors to the gas opacity in the midplane of protoplanetary disks. Results. At 1 AU the gas opacity contributes up to 28.2% of the total opacity, including the dust contribution. At 3-5 AU the gas contribution is 14.5% of the total opacity, and at 7-8 AU it reaches a value of 12.2%. As expected, at 10-15 AU freeze-out of species causes the gas contribution to the total opacity to be very low (6%). The main contributors to the gas opacity are CO, CO_2, S, SiO, and O_2. OH also contributes to the gas opacity, but only at 10-15 AU.

The role of OH in the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks

Context. Time dependent gas-grain chemistry can help us understand the layered structure of species deposited onto the surface of grains during the lifetime of a protoplanetary disk. The history of trapping important quantities of carbon- and oxygen-bearing molecules onto the grains is of special significance for the formation of more complex (organic) molecules on the surface of grains. Aims. Among other processes, cosmic ray-induced UV photo-processes can lead to the efficient formation of OH. Using a more accurate treatment of cosmic ray-gas interactions for disks, we obtain an increased cosmic ray-induced UV photon flux of 3.8x10^5 photons cm^-2s^-1 for a cosmic-ray ionization rate of H2 value of 5x10^-17 s^-1 (compared to previous estimates of 10^4 photons cm^-2s^-1 based on ISM dust properties). We explore the role of the enhanced OH abundance on the gas-grain chemistry in the midplane of the disk at 10 AU, which is a plausible location for comet formation. We focus on studying the formation/destruction pathways and timescales of the dominant chemical species. Methods. We solve the chemical rate equations based on a gas-grain chemical network and correcting for the enhanced cosmic rayinduced UV field. This field is estimated from an appropriate treatment of dust properties in a protoplanetary disk, as opposed to previous estimates that assume an ISM-like grain size distribution. We also explore the chemical effects of photo-desorption of water ice into OH+H. Results. Near the end of the disk's lifetime our chemical model yields H2O, CO, CO2 and CH4 ice abundances at 10 AU (consistent with a midplane density of 10^10 cm^-3 and a temperature of 20 K) that are compatible with measurements of the chemical composition of cometary bodies for a [C/O] ratio of 0.16. Such comparison provides constraints on the physical conditions in which comets were formed.

CHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF TURBULENT PROTOPLANETARY DISKS AND THE SOLAR NEBULA

This is the second paper in a series where we study the influence of transport processes on the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks. Our analysis is based on a flared alpha-model of the DM Tau system, coupled to a large gas-grain chemical network. To account for production of complex molecules, the chemical network is supplied with an extended set of surface reactions and photo-processes in ice mantles. Our disk model covers a wide range of radii, 10-800 AU (from a Jovian planet-forming zone to the outer disk edge). Turbulent transport of gases and ices is implicitly modeled in full 2D along with the time-dependent chemistry. Two regimes are considered, with high and low efficiency of turbulent mixing. The results of the chemical model with suppressed turbulent diffusion are close to those from the laminar model, but not completely. A simple analysis for the laminar chemical model to highlight potential sensitivity of a molecule to transport processes is performed. It is shown that the higher the ratio of the characteristic chemical timescale to the turbulent transport timescale for a given molecule, the higher the probability that its column density will be affected by diffusion. We find that turbulent transport enhances abundances and column densities of many gas-phase species and ices, particularly, complex ones. For such species a chemical steady-state is not reached due to long timescales associated with evaporation and surface photoprocessing and recombination. In contrast, simple radicals and molecular ions, which chemical evolution is fast and proceeds solely in the gas phase, are not much affected by dynamics. All molecules are divided into three groups according to the sensitivity of their column densities to the turbulent diffusion. [Abridged]

Chemical Evolution of a Protoplanetary Disk

AbstractIn this paper we review recent progress in our understanding of the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks. Current observational constraints and theoretical modeling on the chemical composition of gas and dust in these systems are presented. Strong variations of temperature, density, high-energy radiation intensities in these disks, both radially and vertically, result in a peculiar disk chemical structure, where a variety of processes are active. In hot, dilute and heavily irradiated atmosphere only the most photostable simple radicals and atoms and atomic ions exist, formed by gas-phase processes. Beneath the atmosphere a partly UV-shielded, warm molecular layer is located, where high-energy radiation drives rich ion-molecule and radical-radical chemistry, both in the gas phase and on dust surfaces. In a cold, dense, dark disk midplane many molecules are frozen out, forming thick icy mantles where surface chemistry is active and where complex polyatomic (organic) species are synthesized. Dynamical processes affect disk chemical composition by enriching it in abundances of complex species produced via slow surface processes, which will become detectable with ALMA.

CHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF PROTOPLANETARY DISKS—THE EFFECTS OF VISCOUS ACCRETION, TURBULENT MIXING, AND DISK WINDS

We calculate the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks considering radial viscous accretion, vertical turbulent mixing and vertical disk winds. We study the effects on the disk chemical structure when different models for the formation of molecular hydrogen on dust grains are adopted. Our gas-phase chemistry is extracted from the UMIST Database for Astrochemistry (Rate06) to which we have added detailed gas-grain interactions. We use our chemical model results to generate synthetic near- and mid-infrared LTE line emission spectra and compare these with recent Spitzer observations. Our results show that if H2 formation on warm grains is taken into consideration, the H2O and OH abundances in the disk surface increase significantly. We find the radial accretion flow strongly influences the molecular abundances, with those in the cold midplane layers particularly affected. On the other hand, we show that diffusive turbulent mixing affects the disk chemistry in the warm molecular layers, influencing the line emission from the disk and subsequently improving agreement with observations. We find that NH3, CH3OH, C2H2 and sulphur-containing species are greatly enhanced by the inclusion of turbulent mixing. We demonstrate that disk winds potentially affect the disk chemistry and the resulting molecular line emission in a similar manner to that found when mixing is included.

CHEMISTRY OF A PROTOPLANETARY DISK WITH GRAIN SETTLING AND Lyα RADIATION

We present results from a model of the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks. In our models we directly calculate the changing propagation and penetration of a high energy radiation field with Lyman alpha radiation included. We also explore the effect on our models of including dust grain settling. We find that, in agreement with earlier studies, the evolution of dust grains plays a large role in determining how deep the UV radiation penetrates into the disk. Significant grain settling at the midplane leads to much smaller freeze-out regions and a correspondingly larger molecular layer, which leads to an increase in column density for molecular species such as CO, CN and SO. The inclusion of Lyman alpha radiation impacts the disk chemistry through specific species that have large photodissociation cross sections at 1216 A. These include HCN, NH3 and CH4, for which the column densities are decreased by an order of magnitude or more due to the presence of Lyman alpha radiation in the UV spectrum. A few species, such as CO2 and SO, are enhanced by the presence of Lyman alpha radiation, but rarely by more than a factor of a few.

The birth and death of organic molecules in protoplanetary disks

AbstractThe most intriguing question related to the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks is the genesis of pre-biotic organic molecules in the planet-forming zone. In this contribution we briefly review current observational knowledge of physical structure and chemical composition of disks and discuss whether organic molecules can be present in large amounts at the verge of planet formation. We predict that some molecules, including CO-bearing species such as H2CO, can be underabundant in inner regions of accreting protoplanetary disks around low-mass stars due to the high-energy stellar radiation and chemical processing on dust grain surfaces. These theoretical predictions are further compared with high-resolution observational data and the limitations of current models are discussed.

Gas-Phase CO in Protoplanetary Disks: A Challenge for Turbulent Mixing

This is the first paper in a series in which we study the influence of turbulent diffusion and advective transport on the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks, using a 2D flared-disk model and a 2D-mixing gas-grain chemical code with surface reactions. A first interesting result concerns the abundance of gas-phase CO in the outer regions of protoplanetary disks. In this Letter we argue that the gas-phase CO concentration in the disk regions, where the temperature is lower than ~25 K, can be significantly enhanced due to the combined effect of vertical and radial mixing. This finding has a potential implication for the current observational data on the DM Tau disk chemistry.