Trapping Planets in MRI-active Disks
Katherine Kretke, UCSC & SWRI
In standard models of protoplanetary disks, the radial transport of solids serves as a challenge to both planet formation and planet retention. However, in a protoplanetary disks in which angular momentum is transported primarily by MHD (magnetohydrodynamic) turbulence, we expect special locations, planet traps, in which these transport processes instead allow solid material to accumulate. This scenario presents a mechanism to aid in the formation of proto-gas giant cores and super-earths and may leave fingerprints in the observed distribution of planets.
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