Testing Disk Identification Methods Through Numerical Simulations of Protostellar Evolution

Abstract

We test whether the radii of circumstellar disks can be reliably determined in observations applying the results of a numerical simulation. Firstly, we execute a core collapse simulation which starts from a rotating magnetized spherical core, and continue the calculation until the protostellar mass reaches 0.5 Msun. Then, for each set of simulation data, we calculate the radiative transfer to generate the data cube for the synthetic observation. The spatial and velocity resolutions of the synthetic observation are 0.15 arcsec (20 au) and 0.1 km/s, respectively. We define seven different disk radii. Four radii are estimated from the synthetic observation, using the continuum image, continuum visibility, C18O channel map, and C18O position velocity (PV) diagram. The other three radii are taken from the simulation and use the disk rotation, infall motion, and density contrast around the protostar to identify the disk. Finally, we compare the disk radii estimated from the systemic observation with those from the simulation. We find that the disk radius defined using the PV diagram can reliably trace the Keplerian disk when the protostellar mass is larger than M_*>~ 0.2 Msun independent of the inclination angle to the line of sight. In addition, the PV diagram provides an accurate estimate of the central stellar mass through the whole protostellar evolution. The simulation also indicates that the circumstellar disk is massive enough to be gravitationally unstable through the evolution. Such an unstable disk can show either a circular or spiral morphology on a similar timescale.

39 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (36)

• An atomic and molecular database for analysis of submillimetre line observations
• Protoplanetary Disks and Their Evolution
• ALMA Survey of Lupus Protoplanetary Disks II: Gas Disk Radii
• The VLA/ALMA Nascent Disk and Multiplicity (VANDAM) Survey of Orion Protostars. A Statistical Characterization of Class 0 and I Protostellar Disks
• A 0.2 solar mass protostar with a Keplerian disk in the very young L1527 IRS system
• The Ophiuchus DIsc Survey Employing ALMA (ODISEA) - I : project description and continuum images at 28 au resolution
• Testing the locality of transport in self-gravitating accretion discs - II. The massive disc case
• Formation of a Keplerian disk in the infalling envelope around L1527 IRS: transformation from infalling motions to Kepler motions
• Formation Process of the Circumstellar Disk: Long-term Simulations in the Main Accretion Phase of Star Formation
• Resolved images of a protostellar outflow launched by an extended disk wind
• Signs of Early-Stage Disk Growth Revealed with ALMA
• Evolution of Protostellar Outflow around Low-mass Protostar
• Collapse and Fragmentation of Rotating Magnetized Clouds. I. Magnetic Flux - Spin Relation
• Rotationally-supported disks around Class I sources in Taurus: disk formation constraints
• ALMA Observations of the Transition from Infall Motion to Keplerian Rotation around the Late-phase Protostar TMC-1A
• Second Core Formation and High Speed Jets: Resistive MHD Nested Grid Simulations
• Grand Design Spiral Arms in A Young Forming Circumstellar Disk
• First MHD Simulation of Collapse and Fragmentation of Magnetized Molecular Cloud Cores
• Unveiling the Evolutionary Sequence from Infalling Envelopes to Keplerian Disks around Low-Mass Protostars
• ALMA Observations of the Protostar L1527 IRS: Probing Details of the Disk and the Envelope Structures
• Protoplanetary Disk Sizes and Angular Momentum Transport
• Molecular outflow launched beyond the disk edge
• Spiral Arms, Infall, and Misalignment of the Circumbinary Disk from the Circumstellar Disks in the Protostellar Binary System L1551 NE
• Disk Masses for Embedded Class I Protostars in the Taurus Molecular Cloud
• Revealing the dynamics of Class 0 protostellar discs with ALMA
• Searching for kinematic evidence of Keplerian disks around Class 0 protostars with CALYPSO
• Disk structure around the Class I protostar L1489 IRS revealed by ALMA: a warped disk system
• Characterizing gravito-turbulence in 3D: turbulent properties and stability against fragmentation
• A Change of Rotation Profile in the Envelope in the HH 111 Protostellar System: A Transition to a Disk?
• Evolution of CO lines in time-dependent models of protostellar disk formation
• Testing protostellar disk formation models with ALMA observations
• The Origin of the Rotation Profiles in Star Forming Clouds
• Protostellar Evolution in Serpens Main: Possible Origin of Disk-Size Diversity
• The Distinct Evolutionary Nature of two Class 0 Protostars in Serpens Main SMM4
• High-resolution ALMA Study of the Proto-Brown-Dwarf Candidate L328-IRS
• Time-dependent CO depletion during the formation of protoplanetary disks

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk). I. Overview of the Program and First Results
• Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk) III: A first high-resolution view of sub-mm continuum and molecular line emission toward the Class 0 protostar L1527 IRS
• Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk). IV. The Ringed and Warped Structure of the Disk around the Class I Protostar L1489 IRS
• Accuracy of ALMA estimates of young disk radii and masses. Predicted observations from numerical simulations
• Implementation of dust particles in three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulation: Dust dynamics in a collapsing cloud core
• Growth of Magnetorotational Instability in Circumstellar Disks around Class 0 Protostars
• Dust Motion and Possibility of Dust Growth in a Growing Circumstellar Disk
• No impact of core-scale magnetic field, turbulence, or velocity gradient on sizes of protostellar disks in Orion A
• Synthetic Observations of the Infalling Rotating Envelope: Links between the Physical Structure and Observational Features
• HOTDISK. Finding Massive Protostellar Disks with Water and Refractory Molecular Species
• Effects of magnetic field orientations in dense cores on gas kinematics in protostellar envelopes