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arXiv · 2606.26232

Modeling the curved dust sublimation front in protoplanetary disks: a potential probe of midplane turbulence

Ezequiel Manzo-Martínez·Ramiro Franco-Hernández·Nuria Calvet·Jesús Hernández·Paola D'Alessio·Rosa M. Torres
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Abstract

We present a new approach to calculate the geometry and emission of the dust inner wall in disks around T Tauri stars. This calculation follows a self-consistent approach given the disk structure and adopts a density-dependent sublimation temperature for the dust. We built spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of disk models with curved walls around a $0.5\,M_\odot$ star, finding that the curved wall starts at a radius of $\sim 0.11$ au and extends to $\sim 0.38$ au. The dependence on mass accretion rate, dust settling, and disk inclination on the resulting SEDs is explored, as well as the impact of the height of the midplane layer containing large millimeter-sized grains. To test our models, we compare synthetic near-IR colors from a grid of disk models with observed colors for a large sample of disk-bearing T Tauri stars located in Taurus, IC 348, and the Orion complex. Most of the observed colors can be explained by combinations of mass accretion rates, dust settling, and inclinations within the expected ranges for T Tauri stars. However, populating the regions where observed JHK colors are most concentrated, requires the millimeter-size grains be spread up to 0.5--3 scale heights above the midplane. This result contradicts expectations of rapid dust settling and suggests a high degree of turbulence capable of lifting large grains toward the upper disk layers. These findings provide insight into the dynamical conditions of the disk midplane near the star.

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Ezequiel Manzo-Martínez, Ramiro Franco-Hernández, Nuria Calvet, Jesús Hernández, Paola D'Alessio, Rosa M. Torres. 2026-06-24. Modeling the curved dust sublimation front in protoplanetary disks: a potential probe of midplane turbulence. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.26232

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