2025 Project Description

Impact of vertical boundaries on radial convection in protoplanetary disks

Supervisors

Min-Kai Lin, Marius Lehmann
Find out more about supervisors on ASIAA website

Task Description and Goals

Protoplanetary disks—the birth sites of planets—are likely prone to several hydrodynamical instabilities that drive turbulence and structure formation, directly affecting planet formation. One candidate, the "convective overstability" (COS), may develop in the planet-forming regions of protoplanetary disks. However, the COS has mainly been studied under idealized settings, so its efficiency in realistic disks is still unclear. In this project, the student will test the robustness of the COS against different numerical models, focusing on the treatment of vertical boundaries. To this end, the student will carry out simulations using the Python-based Dedalus code, the GPU-enabled Idefix code, or both, to study the non-linear evolution of the COS in 2D and 3D. The student will run simulations, analyze and interpret the data, and write results.

The student will have access to the Kawas cluster at ASIAA, the ASGC clusters at Academia Sinica, and CPU and GPU clusters at the National Center for High-performance Computing.

Successful completion of the project is expected to lead to publication.

Required Background

Mandatory: Mathematical or physical sciences, basic calculus and partial differential equations, Python or other programming languages, English communication skills
Useful: Fluid dynamics, high-performance computing