The Interplay between Dust Dynamics and Turbulence Induced by the Vertical Shear Instability

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal Vol. 986; no. 1; pp. 76 - 99
• Main Authors: Huang, Pinghui, Bai, Xue-Ning
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The American Astronomical Society 10.06.2025; IOP Publishing
• Subjects: Astrophysical fluid dynamics; Hydrodynamical simulations; Planet formation; Protoplanetary disks
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/add345

The interaction between gas and dust in protoplanetary disks (PPDs) plays a crucial role in setting the stage for planet formation. In particular, the streaming instability (SI) is well recognized as the mechanism for planetesimal formation out of this interaction. The outer region of PPDs is likely subject to the vertical shear instability (VSI), representing a major source of disk turbulence characterized by vertical corrugation that leads to strong dust stirring. In the meantime, the VSI turbulence in 3D generates vortices through the Rossby wave instability (RWI), which can trap dust and thereby promote dust concentration. In this study, we use the multifluid dust module in Athena++ to conduct 2D axisymmetric global simulations of PPDs with mesh refinement and 3D global simulations with modest resolution. In 2D, the VSI corrugation mode is weakened by dust back-reaction, while the SI can still survive regardless of initial conditions. Dust clumping occurs and is seeded by VSI-induced zonal flows. In 3D, dust can settle even more with increased dusty buoyancy, suppressing the VSI corrugation mode. Meanwhile, dust back-reaction enhances dust concentration in RWI vortices, though higher resolution is needed to assess dust clumping.