The ALMA survey to Resolve exoKuiper belt Substructures (ARKS) IX: Gas-driven origin for the continuum arc in the debris disc of HD 121617

Abstract

Debris discs were long considered to be largely gas-free environments governed by collisional fragmentation, gravitational stirring, and radiative forces. Recent CO detections show that gas is present, but its abundance and origin remain uncertain. The ALMA survey to Resolve exoKuiper belt Substructures (ARKS) revealed a narrow gas and dust ring in the disc HD 121617 with an asymmetric arc 40% brighter than the rest of the ring. We aim to constrain the total gas mass in HD 121617 assuming the dust arc is produced by hydrodynamical gas-dust interactions. We used the Dusty FARGO-ADSG code, modelling dust as Lagrangian particles, including radiation pressure and dust feedback, and varying the total gas mass. Simulations were compared to observations using radiative transfer. An unstable gas ring creates a size-dependent radial and azimuthal dust trap whose efficiency depends on gas mass. Two models, with 50 and 5 Earth masses of gas, reproduce both the ALMA band 7 arc and the outward offset of the VLT/SPHERE scattered-light ring via gas drag and radiation pressure. We infer a conservative gas-mass range of 2.5 to 250 Earth masses. If the ALMA asymmetry is caused by gas drag, the required gas mass compared with the observed CO implies substantial H2, consistent with primordial gas. HD 121617 would then be a hybrid disc between protoplanetary and debris stages. Since a planet could also create an arc, future observations are needed to distinguish these scenarios.