Abstract: ALMA provides us a great opportunity to image the planet construction zone directly, and many disk structures (e.g. spirals, gaps, warps) have emerged. In this talk, I will discuss how planet-disk interaction theory helps us understand planet formation process. Then, I will apply the planet-disk interaction theory to substructures in the ALMA large program (DSHARP) to reveal the potential young planet population. We find that the occurrence rate for >5 M J planets beyond 5-10 au is consistent with direct imaging constraints. Using these disk substructures also allows us to probe a wide-orbit planet population (Neptune to Jupiter mass planets beyond 10 au) that is not accessible to other planet searching techniques. Finally, I will discuss one possible solution to the planet mass budget problem: one puzzle revealed by ALMA that the dust in Class II disks may not be enough to explain the averaged solid mass in exoplanets.
Using Disk Substructures to Reveal Young Planet Population
Zhaohuan Zhu (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) // October 31, 2019
Abstract: ALMA provides us a great opportunity to image the planet construction zone directly, and many disk structures (e.g. spirals, gaps, warps) have emerged. In this talk, I will discuss how planet-disk interaction theory helps us understand planet formation process. Then, I will apply the planet-disk interaction theory to substructures in the ALMA large program (DSHARP) to reveal the potential young planet population. We find that the occurrence rate for >5 M J planets beyond 5-10 au is consistent with direct imaging constraints. Using these disk substructures also allows us to probe a wide-orbit planet population (Neptune to Jupiter mass planets beyond 10 au) that is not accessible to other planet searching techniques. Finally, I will discuss one possible solution to the planet mass budget problem: one puzzle revealed by ALMA that the dust in Class II disks may not be enough to explain the averaged solid mass in exoplanets.