Streaming Instabilities in Accreting and Magnetized Laminar Protoplanetary Disks

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal Vol. 926; no. 1; pp. 14 - 37
• Main Authors: Lin, Min-Kai, Hsu, Chun-Yen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia The American Astronomical Society 01.02.2022; IOP Publishing
• Subjects: Accretion disks; Alfven waves; Astrophysical fluid dynamics; Astrophysics; Drift; Dust; Hydrodynamics; Instability; Magnetic fields; Magnetohydrodynamics; Perturbation; Planet formation; Pressure gradients; Protoplanetary disks; Radial drift
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac3bb9

The streaming instability (SI) is one of the most promising pathways to the formation of planetesimals from pebbles. Understanding how this instability operates under realistic conditions expected in protoplanetary disks (PPDs) is therefore crucial to assess the efficiency of planet formation. Contemporary models of PPDs show that magnetic fields are key to driving gas accretion through large-scale, laminar magnetic stresses. However, the effect of such magnetic fields on the SI has not been examined in detail. To this end, we study the stability of dusty, magneftized gas in a protoplanetary disk. We find the SI can be enhanced by passive magnetic torques and even persist in the absence of a global radial pressure gradient. In this case, instability is attributed to the azimuthal drift between dust and gas, unlike the classical SI, which is driven by radial drift. This suggests that the SI can remain effective inside dust-trapping pressure bumps in accreting disks. When a live vertical field is considered, we find the magneto-rotational instability can be damped by dust feedback, while the classic SI can be stabilized by magnetic perturbations. We also find that Alfvén waves can be destabilized by dust–gas drift, but this instability requires nearly ideal conditions. We discuss the possible implications of these results for dust dynamics and planetesimal formation in PPDs.