2026 Project Description

How dust and turbulence coevolve in protoplanetary disks

Supervisors

Yuya Fukuhara
Find out more about supervisors on ASIAA website

Task Description and Goals

Planet formation begins with the growth of micron-sized dust grains into kilometer-sized planetesimals in a protoplanetary disk around a young star. During this process, gas turbulence plays a key role by influencing dust growth, spatial distribution, and motion. Recent high-resolution observations have shown that turbulence strength varies among disks, within different disk regions, and over evolutionary stages. However, the questions of when and where turbulence is active, and how it affects dust evolution, remain open.

Traditionally, turbulence has been considered an external factor that affects dust evolution. Recent theoretical studies, however, suggest that dust can also influence the onset and strength of turbulence through gas–dust dynamical and thermal coupling. This points to a possible coevolution of dust growth and disk turbulence, which has not yet been systematically explored.

In this project, we aim to investigate dust evolution in protoplanetary disks where turbulence evolves together with dust growth. The student will perform dust growth simulations using the Python-based code Dustpy, which models the time evolution of dust size and distribution in disks. We will implement a turbulence model based on empirical relations derived from previous hydrodynamic simulations, allowing the turbulence strength to vary with evolving dust properties. By comparing the simulation results with observations, we attempt to constrain how turbulence varies within and among protoplanetary disks.

Through this project, the student will gain fundamental knowledge of planet formation, dust evolution, and protoplanetary disks, as well as practical experience in numerical simulations and Python-based scientific computing.

Required Background

Background knowledge in astrophysics is preferred, but not mandatory. Basic computer programming skills (especially Python) are desirable.