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Tomohiro C. Yoshida

Publications and source records attributed to Tomohiro C. Yoshida.

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exoALMA. VI. Rotating under Pressure: Rotation curves, azimuthal velocity substructures, and pressure variations

The bulk motion of the gas in protoplanetary disks around newborn stars is nearly Keplerian. By leveraging the high angular and spectral resolution of ALMA, we can detect small-scale velocity perturbations in molecular line observations caused by local gas pressure variations in the disk, possibly induced by embedded protoplanets. This paper presents the azimuthally averaged rotational velocity and its deviations from Keplerian rotation ($δ\upsilon_ϕ$) for the exoALMA sample, as measured in the $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO emission lines. The rotation signatures show evidence for vertically stratified disks, in which $^{13}$CO rotates faster than $^{12}$CO due to a distinct thermal gas pressure gradient at their emitting heights. We find $δ\upsilon_ϕ$-substructures in the sample on both small ($\sim$10 au) and large ($\sim$100 au) radial scales, reaching deviations up to 15% from background Keplerian velocity in the most extreme cases. More than 75% of the rings and 80% of the gaps in the dust continuum emission resolved in $δ\upsilon_ϕ$ are co-located with gas pressure maxima and minima, respectively. Additionally, gas pressure substructures are observed far beyond the dust continuum emission. For the first time, we determined the gas pressure derivative at the midplane from observations and found it to align well with the dust substructures within the given uncertainties. Based on our findings, we conclude that gas pressure variations are likely the dominant mechanism for ring and gap formation in the dust continuum.

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exoALMA. XVII. Characterizing the Gas Dynamics around Dust Asymmetries

The key planet-formation processes in protoplanetary disks remain an active matter of research. One promising mechanism to radially and azimuthally trap millimeter-emitting dust grains, enabling them to concentrate and grow into planetesimals, is anticyclonic vortices. While dust observations have revealed crescent structures in several disks, observations of their kinematic signatures are still lacking. Studying the gas dynamics is, however, essential to confirm the presence of a vortex and understand its dust trapping properties. In this work, we make use of the high-resolution and sensitivity observations conducted by the exoALMA large program to search for such signatures in the $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO molecular line emission of four disks with azimuthal dust asymmetries: HD 135344B, HD 143006, HD 34282, and MWC 758. To assess the vortex features, we constructed an analytical vortex model and performed hydrodynamical simulations. For the latter, we assumed two scenarios: a vortex triggered at the edge of a dead zone and of a gap created by a massive embedded planet. These models reveal a complex kinematical morphology of the vortex. When compared to the data, we find that none of the sources show a distinctive vortex signature around the dust crescents in the kinematics.

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exoALMA XV: Interpreting the height of CO emission layer

The availability of exquisite data and the development of new analysis techniques have enabled the study of emitting heights in proto-planetary disks. In this paper we introduce a simple model linking the emitting height of CO to the disk surface density and temperature structure. We then apply the model to measurements of the emitting height and disk temperature conducted as part of exoALMA, integrated with additional legacy measurements from the MAPS Large Programme, to derive CO column densities and surface density profiles (assuming a CO abundance) for a total of 14 disks. A unique feature of the method we introduce to measure surface densities is that it can be applied to optically thick observations, rather than optically thin as conventionally done. While we use our method on a sample of well studied disks where temperature structures have been derived using two emission lines, we show that reasonably accurate estimates can be obtained also when only one molecular transition is available. With our method we obtain independent constraints from $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO and we find they are in general good agreement using the standard $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C isotopic ratio. The masses derived from our method are systematically lower compared with the values derived dynamically from the rotation curve if using an ISM CO abundance, implying that CO is depleted by a median factor $\sim$20 with respect to the ISM value, in line with other works that find that CO is depleted in proto-planetary disks.

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exoALMA. VIII. Probabilistic Moment Maps and Data Products using Non-parametric Linear Models

Extracting robust inferences on physical quantities from disk kinematics measured from Doppler-shifted molecular line emission is challenging due to the data's size and complexity. In this paper we develop a flexible linear model of the intensity distribution in each frequency channel, accounting for spatial correlations from the point spread function. The analytic form of the model's posterior enables probabilistic data products through sampling. Our method debiases peak intensity, peak velocity, and line width maps, particularly in disk substructures that are only partially resolved. These are needed in order to measure disk mass, turbulence, pressure gradients, and to detect embedded planets. We analyse HD 135344B, MWC 758, and CQ Tau, finding velocity substructures 50--200 ${\rm m s^{-1}}$ greater than with conventional methods. Additionally, we combine our approach with discminer in a case study of J1842. We find that uncertainties in stellar mass and inclination increase by an order of magnitude due to the more realistic noise model. More broadly, our method can be applied to any problem requiring a probabilistic model of an intensity distribution conditioned on a point spread function.

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exoALMA V: Gaseous Emission Surfaces and Temperature Structures

Analysis of the gaseous component in protoplanetary disks can inform us about their thermal and physical structure, chemical composition, and kinematic properties, all of which are crucial for understanding various processes within the disks. By exploiting the asymmetry of the line emission, or via line profile analysis, we can locate the emitting surfaces. Here, we present the emission surfaces of the exoALMA sources in $^{12}$CO $J=3-2$, $^{13}$CO $J=3-2$, and CS $J=7-6$. We find that $^{12}$CO traces the upper disk atmosphere, with mean <$z/r$> values of $\approx$ 0.28, while $^{13}$CO and CS trace lower regions of the disk with mean values of $\approx$ 0.16 and $\approx$ 0.18, respectively. We find that $^{12}$CO <$z/r$> and the disk mass are positively correlated with each other; this relationship offers a straightforward way to infer the disk mass. We derive 2-D $r-z$ temperature distributions of the disks. Additionally, we search for substructure in the surfaces and radial intensity profiles; we find evidence of localized substructure in the emission surfaces and peak intensity profiles of nearly every disk, with this substructure often being co-incident between molecular tracers, intensity profiles, and kinematic perturbations. Four disks display evidence of potential photo-desorption, implying that this effect may be common even in low FUV star-forming regions. For most disks, we find that the physical and thermal structure is more complex than analytical models can account for, highlighting a need for more theoretical work and a better understanding of the role of projection effects on our observations.

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exoALMA III: Line-intensity Modeling and System Property Extraction from Protoplanetary Disks

The ALMA large program exoALMA offers a unique window into the three-dimensional physical and dynamical properties of 15 circumstellar disks where planets may be actively forming. Here, we present an analysis methodology to map the gas disk structure and substructure encoded in 12CO, 13CO, and CS line emission from our targets. To model and characterize the disk structure probed by optically thin species, such as CS and, in some cases, 13CO, we introduce a composite line profile kernel that accounts for increased intensities caused by the projected overlap between the disk's front and back side emission. Our workflow, built on the Discminer modelling framework, incorporates an improved iterative two-component fitting method for inclined sources ($i>40^\circ$), to mitigate the impact of the disk backside on the extraction of velocity maps. Also, we report best-fit parameters for the Keplerian stellar masses, as well as inclinations, position angles, systemic velocities, rotation direction, and emission surfaces of the disks in our sample.

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exoALMA IX: Regularized Maximum Likelihood Imaging of Non-Keplerian Features

The planet-hunting ALMA large program exoALMA observed 15 protoplanetary disks at ~0.15" angular resolution and ~100 m/s spectral resolution, characterizing disk structures and kinematics in enough detail to detect non-Keplerian features (NKFs) in the gas emission. As these features are often small and low-contrast, robust imaging procedures are critical for identifying and characterizing NKFs, including determining which features may be signatures of young planets. The exoALMA collaboration employed two different imaging procedures to ensure the consistent detection of NKFs: CLEAN, the standard iterative deconvolution algorithm, and regularized maximum likelihood (RML) imaging. This paper presents the exoALMA RML images, obtained by maximizing the likelihood of the visibility data given a model image and subject to regularizer penalties. Crucially, in the context of exoALMA, RML images serve as an independent verification of marginal features seen in the fiducial CLEAN images. However, best practices for synthesizing RML images of multi-channeled (i.e. velocity-resolved) data remain undefined, as prior work on RML imaging for protoplanetary disk data has primarily addressed single-image cases. We used the open source Python package MPoL to explore RML image validation methods for multi-channeled data and synthesize RML images from the exoALMA observations of 7 protoplanetary disks with apparent NKFs in the 12CO J=3-2 CLEAN images. We find that RML imaging methods independently reproduce the NKFs seen in the CLEAN images of these sources, suggesting that the NKFs are robust features rather than artifacts from a specific imaging procedure.

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exoALMA I. Science Goals, Project Design and Data Products

Planet formation is a hugely dynamic process requiring the transport, concentration and assimilation of gas and dust to form the first planetesimals and cores. With access to extremely high spatial and spectral resolution observations at unprecedented sensitivities, it is now possible to probe the planet forming environment in detail. To this end, the exoALMA Large Program targeted fifteen large protoplanetary disks ranging between ${\sim}1\arcsec$ and ${\sim}7\arcsec$ in radius, and mapped the gas and dust distributions. $^{12}$CO J=3-2, $^{13}$CO J=3-2 and CS J=7-6 molecular emission was imaged at high angular (${\sim}~0\farcs15$) and spectral (${\sim}~100~{\rm m\,s^{-1}}$) resolution, achieving a surface brightness temperature sensitivity of ${\sim}1.5$~K over a single channel, while the 330~GHz continuum emission was imaged at 90~mas resolution and achieved a point source sensitivity of ${\sim}\,40~μ{\rm Jy~beam^{-1}}$. These observations constitute some of the deepest observations of protoplanetary disks to date. Extensive substructure was found in all but one disk, traced by both dust continuum and molecular line emission. In addition, the molecular emission allowed for the velocity structure of the disks to be mapped with excellent precision (uncertainties on the order of $10~{\rm m\,s^{-1}}$), revealing a variety of kinematic perturbations across all sources. From this sample it is clear that, when observed in detail, all disks appear to exhibit physical and dynamical substructure indicative of on-going dynamical processing due to young, embedded planets, large-scale, (magneto-)hydrodynamical instabilities or winds.

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exoALMA. X. channel maps reveal complex $^{12}$CO abundance distributions and a variety of kinematic structures with evidence for embedded planets

We analyze the $^{12}$CO $J=3-2$ data cubes of the disks in the exoALMA program. 13/15 disks reveal a variety of kinematic substructures in individual channels: large-scale arcs or spiral arms, localized velocity kinks, and/or multiple faints arcs that appear like filamentary structures on the disk surface. We find kinematic signatures that are consistent with planet wakes in six disks: AA Tau, SY Cha, J1842, J1615, LkCa 15 and HD 143006. Comparison with hydrodynamical and radiative transfer simulations suggests planets with orbital radii between 80 and 310\,au and masses between 1 and 5 M$_\mathrm{Jup}$. Additional kinematic substructures limit our ability to place tight constraints on the planet masses. When the inclination is favorable to separate the upper and lower surfaces (near 45$^\mathrm{o}$, i.e. in 7/15 disks), we always detect the vertical CO snowline and find that the $^{12}$CO freeze-out is partial in the disk midplane, with a depletion factor of $\approx 10^{-3}$ - $10^{-2}$ compared to the warm molecular layer. In these same seven disks, we also systematically detect evidence of CO desorption in the outer regions.

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exoALMA XII: Weighing and sizing exoALMA disks with rotation curve modelling

The exoALMA large program offers a unique opportunity to investigate the fundamental properties of protoplanetary disks, such as their masses and sizes, providing important insights in the mechanism responsible for the transport of angular momentum. In this work, we model the rotation curves of CO isotopologues $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO of ten sources within the exoALMA sample, and we constrain the stellar mass, the disk mass and the density scale radius through precise characterization of the pressure gradient and disk self gravity. We obtain dynamical disk masses for our sample measuring the self-gravitating contribution to the gravitational potential. We are able to parametrically describe their surface density, and all of them appear gravitationally stable. By combining dynamical disk masses with dust continuum emission data, we determine an averaged gas-to-dust ratio of approximately 400, not statistically consistent with the standard value of 100, assuming optically thin dust emission. In addition, the measurement of the dynamical scale radius allows for direct comparison with flux-based radii of gas and dust. This comparison suggests that substructures may influence the size of the dust disk, and that CO depletion might reconcile our measurements with thermochemical models. Finally, with the stellar mass, disk mass, scale radius, and accretion rate, and assuming self-similar evolution of the surface density, we constrain the effective $α_S$ for these systems. We find a broad range of $α_S$ values ranging between $10^{-5}$ and $10^{-2}$.

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exoALMA IV: Substructures, Asymmetries, and the Faint Outer Disk in Continuum Emission

The exoALMA Large Program targeted a sample of 15 disks to study gas dynamics within these systems, and these observations simultaneously produced continuum data at 0.9 mm (331.6 GHz) with exceptional surface brightness sensitivity at high angular resolution. To provide a robust characterization of the observed substructures, we performed a visibility space analysis of the continuum emission from the exoALMA data, characterizing axisymmetric substructures and nonaxisymmetric residuals obtained by subtracting an axisymmetric model from the observed data. We defined a nonaxisymmetry index and found that the most asymmetric disks predominantly show an inner cavity and consistently present higher values of mass accretion rate and near-infrared excess. This suggests a connection between outer disk dust substructures and inner disk properties. The depth of the data allowed us to describe the azimuthally averaged continuum emission in the outer disk, revealing that larger disks (both in dust and gas) in our sample tend to be gradually tapered compared to the sharper outer edge of more compact sources. Additionally, the data quality revealed peculiar features in various sources, such as shadows, inner disk offsets, tentative external substructures, and a possible dust cavity wall.

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Dust Scattering Albedo at Millimeter-Wavelengths in the TW Hya Disk

Planetary bodies are formed by coagulation of solid dust grains in protoplanetary disks. Therefore, it is crucial to constrain the physical and chemical properties of the dust grains. In this study, we measure the dust albedo at mm-wavelength, which depends on dust properties at the disk midplane. Since the albedo and dust temperature are generally degenerate in observed thermal dust emission, it is challenging to determine them simultaneously. We propose to break this degeneracy by using multiple optically-thin molecular lines as a dust-albedo independent thermometer. In practice, we employ pressure-broadened CO line wings that provide an exceptionally high signal-to-noise ratio as an optically thin line. We model the CO $J=2-1$ and $3-2$ spectra observed by the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) at the inner region ($r<6\ {\rm au}$) of the TW Hya disk and successfully derived the midplane temperature. Combining multi-band continuum observations, we constrain the albedo spectrum at $0.9-3$ mm for the first time without assuming a dust opacity model. The albedo at these wavelengths is high, $\sim0.5-0.8$, and broadly consistent with the Ricci et al. (2010), DIANA, and DSHARP dust models. Even without assuming dust composition, we estimate the maximum grain size to be $\sim 340\ μm$, the power law index of the grain size distribution to be $>-4.1$, and porosity to be $<0.96$. The derived dust size may suggest efficient fragmentation with the threshold velocity of $\sim 0.08\ {\rm m\ s^{-1}}$. We also note that the absolute flux uncertainty of $\sim10\%$ ($1σ$) is measured and used in the analysis, which is approximately twice the usually assumed value.

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Asymmetric dust accumulation of the PDS 70 disk revealed by ALMA Band 3 observations

The PDS 70 system, hosting two planets within its disk, is an ideal target for examining the effect of planets on dust accumulation, growth, and ongoing planet formation. Here, we present high-resolution ($0.''07 = 8 \ \mathrm{au}$) dust continuum observations of the PDS 70 disk in ALMA Band 3 (3.0 mm). While previous Band 7 observations showed a dust ring with slight asymmetry, our Band 3 observations reveal a more prominent asymmetric peak in the northwest direction, where the intensity is 2.5 times higher than in other directions and the spectral index is at the local minimum with $α_{\mathrm{SED}} \sim 2.2$. This indicates that a substantial amount of dust is accumulated both radially and azimuthally in the peak. We also detect point-source emission around the stellar position in the Band 3 image, which is likely to be free-free emission. We constrain the eccentricity of the outer ring to be $e<0.04$ from the position of the central star and the outer ring. From the comparison with numerical simulations, we constrain the mass of PDS 70c to be less than 4.9 Jupiter masses if the gas turbulence strength $α_{\mathrm{turb}} = 10^{-3}$. Then, we discuss the formation mechanism of the disk structures and further planet formation scenarios in the disk.

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Outflow Driven by a Protoplanet Embedded in the TW Hya Disk

Gas giant planets are formed by gas accretion onto planetary cores in protoplanetary disks. However, direct evidence of this process is still lacking, limiting our understanding of planetary formation processes. During mass accretion, planet-driven outflows may be launched, which could be observable by shock tracers such as sulfur monoxide (SO). We report the detection of SO gas in the protoplanetary disk around TW Hya in archival Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) observations. The $\rm SO\ J=8_7 - 7_6\ $ emission line is detected at a $6σ$ significance and localized to the southeast region of the disk with an arc-like morphology. The line center is red-shifted with respect to the systemic velocity by $\sim5\ \rm km\ s^{-1}$. The starting point of the SO emission is located at a planet-carved dust gap at $42$ au. We attribute this to an outflow driven by an embedded protoplanet. Indeed, the observed morphology is well reproduced by a ballistic outflow model. The outflow velocity suggests that the outflow launching source has a mass of $\sim 4 M_\oplus\ (0.012 M_{\rm Jup})$ and the mass-loss rate is $3\times10^{-8} - 1\times10^{-6}\ M_{\rm Jup}\ {\rm yr^{-1}}$. With the relation of mass-loss and mass-accretion rates established for protostars, we estimated the mass-accretion rate onto the protoplanet to be $3\times10^{-7} - 1\times10^{-5}\ M_{\rm Jup}\ {\rm yr^{-1}}$, which matches theoretical predictions for a $\sim 4 M_\oplus$ planet at this separation. The detection of planet-driven outflow provides us a unique opportunity to directly probe the earliest phase of gas giant planet formation.

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The First Spatially-resolved Detection of $^{13}$CN in a Protoplanetary Disk and Evidence for Complex Carbon Isotope Fractionation

Recent measurements of carbon isotope ratios in both protoplanetary disks and exoplanet atmospheres have suggested a possible transfer of significant carbon isotope fractionation from disks to planets. For a clearer understanding of the isotopic link between disks and planets, it is important to measure the carbon isotope ratios in various species. In this paper, we present a detection of the $^{13}$CN $N=2-1$ hyperfine lines in the TW Hya disk with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. This is the first spatially-resolved detection of $^{13}$CN in disks, which enables us to measure the spatially resolved $^{12}$CN/$^{13}$CN ratio for the first time. We conducted non-local thermal equilibrium modeling of the $^{13}$CN lines in conjunction with previously observed $^{12}$CN lines to derive the kinetic temperature, ${\rm H_2}$ volume density, and column densities of $^{12}$CN and $^{13}$CN. The ${\rm H_2}$ volume density is found to range between $ (4 - 10)\times10^7 \ {\rm cm^{-3}}$, suggesting that CN molecules mainly reside in the disk upper layer. The $^{12}$CN/$^{13}$CN ratio is measured to be $ 70^{+9}_{-6}$ at $30 < r < 80$ au from the central star, which is similar to the $\rm ^{12}C/^{13}C$ ratio in the interstellar medium. However, this value differs from the previously reported values found for other carbon-bearing molecules (CO and HCN) in the TW Hya disk. This could be self-consistently explained by different emission layer heights for different molecules combined with preferential sequestration of $\rm ^{12}C$ into the solid phase towards the disk midplane. This study reveals the complexity of the carbon isotope fractionation operating in disks.

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Discovery of Line Pressure Broadening and Direct Constraint on Gas Surface Density in a Protoplanetary Disk

The gas surface density profile of protoplanetary disks is one of the most fundamental physical properties to understand planet formation. However, it is challenging to determine the surface density profile observationally, because the H$_2$ emission cannot be observed in low-temperature regions. We analyzed the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) archival data of the \co line toward the protoplanetary disk around TW Hya and discovered extremely broad line wings due to the pressure broadening. In conjunction with a previously reported optically thin CO isotopologue line, the pressure broadened line wings enabled us to directly determine the midplane gas density for the first time. The gas surface density at $\sim5$ au from the central star reaches $\sim 10^3\ {\rm g\ cm^{-2}}$, which suggests that the inner region of the disk has enough mass to form a Jupiter-mass planet. Additionally, the gas surface density drops at the inner cavity by $\sim2$ orders of magnitude compared to outside the cavity. We also found a low CO abundance of $\sim 10^{-6}$ with respect to H$_2$, even inside the CO snowline, which suggests conversion of CO to less volatile species. Combining our results with previous studies, the gas surface density jumps at $r\sim 20$ au, suggesting that the inner region ($3<r<20$ au) might be the magnetorotational instability dead zone. This study sheds light on direct gas-surface-density constraint without assuming the CO/H$_2$ ratio using ALMA.

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A new method for direct measurement of isotopologue ratios in protoplanetary disks: a case study of the $^{12}$CO/$^{13}$CO ratio in the TW Hya disk

Planetary systems are thought to be born in protoplanetary disks. Isotope ratios are a powerful tool for investigating the material origin and evolution from molecular clouds to planetary systems via protoplanetary disks. However, it is challenging to measure the isotope (isotopologue) ratios, especially in protoplanetary disks, because the emission lines of major species are saturated. We developed a new method to overcome these challenges by using optically thin line wings induced by thermal broadening. As a first application of the method, we analyzed two carbon monoxide isotopologue lines, $^{12}$CO $3-2$ and $^{13}$CO $3-2$, from archival observations of a protoplanetary disk around TW Hya with the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array. The $^{12}$CO/$^{13}$CO ratio was estimated to be ${ 20\pm5}$ at disk radii of ${ 70-110}$ au, which is significantly smaller than the value observed in the local interstellar medium, $\sim69$. It implies that an isotope exchange reaction occurs in a low-temperature environment with $\rm C/O>1$ . In contrast, it is suggested that $^{12}$CO/$^{13}$CO is higher than $\sim{ 84}$ in the outer disk ($r > { 130}$ au), which can be explained by the difference in the binding energy of the isotopologues on dust grains and the CO gas depletion processes. Our results imply that the gas-phase $^{12}$CO/$^{13}$CO can vary by a factor of ${ > 4}$ even inside a protoplanetary disk, and therefore, can be used to trace material evolution in disks.

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Detection of HC18O+ in a protoplanetary disk: exploring oxygen isotope fractionation of CO

The oxygen isotope fractionation scenario, which has been developed to explain the oxygen isotope anomaly in the solar system materials, predicts that CO gas is depleted in 18O in protoplanetary disks, where segregation between solids and gas inside disks had already occurred. Based on ALMA observations, we report the first detection of HC18O+(4-3) in a Class II protoplanetary disk (TW Hya). This detection allows us to explore the oxygen isotope fractionation of CO in the TW Hya disk from optically thin HCO+ isotopologues as a proxy of optically thicker CO isotopologues. Using the H13CO+(4-3) data previously obtained with SMA, we find that the H13CO+/HC18O+ ratio in the central <100 au regions of the disk is 10.3 +- 3.2. We construct a chemical model of the TW Hya disk with carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation chemistry, and estimate the conversion factor from H13CO+/HC18O+ to 13CO/C18O. With the conversion factor (= 0.8), the 13CO/C18O ratio is estimated to be 8.3 +- 2.6, which is consistent with the elemental abundance ratio in the local ISM (8.1 +- 0.8) within error margin. Then there is no clear evidence of 18O depletion in CO gas of the disk, although we could not draw any robust conclusion due to large uncertainties. In conclusion, optically thin lines of HCO+ isotopologues are useful tracers of CO isotopic ratios, which are hardly constrained directly from optically thick lines of CO isotopologues. Future higher sensitivity observations of H13CO+ and HC18O+ would be able to allow us to better constrain the oxygen fractionation in the disk.

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