Photoevaporation Does Not Create a Pileup of Giant Planets at 1 au

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal 2018-03, Vol.855 (2), p.145
• Main Authors: Wise, A. W., Dodson-Robinson, S. E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accretion disks; Astrophysics; Computer simulation; Control simulation; Density; Extrasolar planets; Gas giant planets; hydrodynamics; Jupiter; Lindblad resonance; Planet formation; planet-disk interactions; Planets; planets and satellites: dynamical evolution and stability; planets and satellites: gaseous planets; protoplanetary disks
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aaaae5

The semimajor axis distribution of giant exoplanets appears to have a pileup near 1 au. Photoevaporation opens a gap in the inner few au of gaseous disks before dissipating them. Here, we investigate if photoevaporation can significantly affect the final distribution of giant planets by modifying gas surface density and hence Type II migration rates near the photoevaporation gap. We first use an analytic disk model to demonstrate that newly formed giant planets have a long migration epoch before photoevaporation can significantly alter their migration rates. Next, we present new 2D hydrodynamic simulations of planets migrating in photoevaporating disks, in which each are paired with a control simulation of migration in an otherwise identical disk without photoevaporation. We show that in disks with surface densities near the minimum threshold for forming giant planets, photoevaporation alters the final semimajor axis of a migrating gas giant by at most 5% over the course of 0.1 Myr of migration. Once the disk mass has become low enough for photoevaporation to carve a sharp gap, migration has almost completely stalled due to the low surface density of gas at the Lindblad resonances. We find that photoevaporation modifies migration rates so little that it is unlikely to leave a significant signature on the distribution of giant exoplanets.