Protoplanetary Disk Structure with the SMA
First Author:
Sean Andrews
Email: sandrews AT cfa.harvard.edu
Harvard-Smithsonian CfA
60 Garden Street, MS 42
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Abstract
We present some preliminary results from a high spatial resolution (0.25") Submillimeter Array survey of protoplanetary disks in Ophiuchus and TW Hydrae. Because of their sensitivity to the amount and structure of disk solids, resolved submillimeter continuum data provide unique access to the physical conditions in disks, including in particular the spatial distribution of mass on scales relevant to the planet formation process (30 AU and 12 AU for Ophiuchus and TWA sources, respectively). A simple 2D structure prescription and radiative transfer calculations are used to simultaneously reproduce the submillimeter visibilities and broadband spectral energy distribution for each of the disks in our sample. In general, we find that the radial variation of surface densities is well described by p ~1 (where $\Sigma \propto R^{-p}$), with significantly improved precision compared to previous lower-resolution studies. The implications of these structure measurements will be discussed in the contexts of the viscous evolution and planet-forming potential of disk material.
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