The effect of sculpting planets on the steepness of debris-disc inner edges

Author:

Pearce Tim D12ORCID,Krivov Alexander V2,Sefilian Antranik A23ORCID,Jankovic Marija R4ORCID,Löhne Torsten2ORCID,Morgner Tobias2,Wyatt Mark C5ORCID,Booth Mark26,Marino Sebastian7ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Physics, University of Warwick , Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry CV4 7AL , UK

2. Astrophysikalisches Institut und Universitätssternwarte, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena , Schillergäßchen 2-3, D-07745 Jena , Germany

3. Center for Advanced Mathematical Sciences, American University of Beirut , PO Box 11-0236, Riad El-Solh, Beirut 11097 2020 , Lebanon

4. Institute of Physics Belgrade, University of Belgrade , Pregrevica 118, 11080 Belgrade , Serbia

5. Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA , UK

6. UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory Edinburgh , Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ , UK

7. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter , Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QL , UK

Abstract

ABSTRACT Debris discs are our best means to probe the outer regions of planetary systems. Many studies assume that planets lie at the inner edges of debris discs, akin to Neptune and the Kuiper Belt, and use the disc morphologies to constrain those otherwise-undetectable planets. However, this produces a degeneracy in planet mass and semimajor axis. We investigate the effect of a sculpting planet on the radial surface-density profile at the disc inner edge, and show that this degeneracy can be broken by considering the steepness of the edge profile. Like previous studies, we show that a planet on a circular orbit ejects unstable debris and excites surviving material through mean-motion resonances. For a non-migrating, circular-orbit planet, in the case where collisions are negligible, the steepness of the disc inner edge depends on the planet-to-star mass ratio and the initial-disc excitation level. We provide a simple analytic model to infer planet properties from the steepness of ALMA-resolved disc edges. We also perform a collisional analysis, showing that a purely planet-sculpted disc would be distinguishable from a purely collisional disc and that, whilst collisions flatten planet-sculpted edges, they are unlikely to fully erase a planet’s signature. Finally, we apply our results to ALMA-resolved debris discs and show that, whilst many inner edges are too steep to be explained by collisions alone, they are too flat to arise through completed sculpting by non-migrating, circular-orbit planets. We discuss implications of this for the architectures, histories, and dynamics in the outer regions of planetary systems.

Funder

University of Cambridge

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Subject

Space and Planetary Science,Astronomy and Astrophysics

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