The link between disc dispersal by photoevaporation and the semi-major axis distribution of exoplanets

Abstract

We investigate the influence of photoevaporation of protoplanetary discs on the final distribution of exoplanets semi-major axis distances. We model giant planet migration in viscous discs affected by photoevaporation driven by either pure EUV or soft X-ray radiation (XEUV). We show that the final exoplanet distributions are strongly dependant on the choice of the photoevaporation model. In particular, we find that XEUV is more efficient than pure EUV radiation at parking planets at approximately 1-2 AU distance from their central star, hence roughly reproducing the observed peak in the exoplanets semi-major axis distributions. We note however that a more quantitative comparison with the observations is hindered by the oversimplified treatment of planetary accretion, which severely affects migration rates. For this reason, caution should be used when using these models to constrain details of disc clearing and/or migration from the observations. Nevertheless our results indicate that disc dispersal by photoevaporation may be the main driver of the features in the exoplanets semi-major axis distribution observed by recent surveys.

8 pages, 5 figures, accepted by MNRAS

References in corpus (10)

• The XMM-Newton Extended Survey of the Taurus Molecular Cloud (XEST)
• Photoevaporation of protoplanetary discs I: hydrodynamic models
• The Exoplanet Orbit Database II: Updates to exoplanets.org
• Dust dynamics during protoplanetary disc clearing
• The Migration of Gap-Opening Planets is not Locked to Viscous Disk Evolution
• Migration of massive planets in accreting disks
• Massive planet migration: Theoretical predictions and comparison with observations
• Deserts and pile-ups in the distribution of exoplanets due to photoevaporative disc clearing
• Low EUV Luminosities Impinging on Protoplanetary Disks
• Accreting planets as dust dams in `transition' discs

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Hints for a Turnover at the Snow Line in the Giant Planet Occurrence Rate
• Fingerprints of giant planets in the composition of solar twins
• The evolution of photo-evaporating viscous discs in binaries
• X-ray photoevaporation's limited success in the formation of planetesimals by the streaming instability
• Accreting Transition Discs with large cavities created by X-ray photoevaporation in C and O depleted discs
• A photo-evaporative gap in the closest planet forming disc
• The imprint of X-ray photoevaporation of planet-forming discs on the orbital distribution of giant planets
• Constraining planet formation around 6$M_{\odot }$-8$M_{\odot }$ stars
• The influence of general-relativity effects, dynamical tides and collisions on planet-planet scattering close to the star
• The gas disk: Evolution and chemistry