Dust Dynamics in Transitional Disks: Clumping and Disk Recession

Abstract

Abstract The role of radiation pressure in dust migration and the opening of inner cavities in transitional disks is revisited in this paper. Dust dynamics including radiation pressure is often studied in axisymmetric models, but in this work, we show that highly non-axisymmetric features can arise from an instability at the inner disk edge. Dust grains clump into high density features there, allowing radiation to leak around them and penetrate deeper into the disk, changing the course of dust migration. Our proof-of-concept, two-dimensional, vertically averaged simulations show that the combination of radiation pressure, shadowing, and gas drag can produce a net outward migration, or recession, of the dust component of the disk. The recession speed of the inner disk edge is on the order of 10−5 times Keplerian speed in our parameter space, which is faster than the background viscous flow, assuming a Shakura–Sunyaev viscosity α ≲ 10−3. This speed, if sustained over the lifetime of the disk, can result in a dust cavity as large as tens of astronomical units.