Testing Models of Disk Formation and Gravito-Viscous Evolution Against Observations of Young Protoplanetary Disks

Fabiola Antonietta Gerosa; Paola Pinilla; Eduard I. Vorobyov; James McKevitt

doi:10.1093/mnras/stag2130

AI summary · arXiv: 2611.12655v1 · astro-ph.EP

Testing Models of Disk Formation and Gravito-Viscous Evolution Against Observations of Young Protoplanetary Disks

Fabiola Antonietta Gerosa, Paola Pinilla, Eduard I. Vorobyov, James McKevitt

Original paper · DOI 10.1093/mnras/stag2130 Submitted to arXiv on 09 Nov. 2026 18 pages, 12 figures (including appendix). Accepted for publication in MNRAS License: CC BY 4.0 Also in: fr

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The essentials

Self-gravity and viscosity reproduce several young-disk flux and size constraints, but fail to explain the low gas and dust masses observed in Class I and II disks.

Question

Can disk formation and early evolution driven only by self-gravity and turbulent viscosity account for observed gas and dust properties across young stellar-object stages? The study also asks whether varying initial cloud and disk parameters resolves mismatches with observations.

Method

The authors used the FEOSAD two-dimensional thin-disk hydrodynamics code to simulate gas and dust evolution during cloud collapse, including self-gravity, viscosity, dust growth, drift, and fragmentation. They ran 12 fiducial simulations with cloud masses from 0.15 to 2.65 solar masses and eight additional simulations varying rotational energy, viscosity, or fragmentation velocity, then compared computed disk properties and mock fluxes with surveys at different evolutionary stages.

Findings

Result Simulated Stage 0 disk millimetre fluxes broadly agree with observed Class 0 fluxes, but simulated Stage I fluxes are higher and the flux evolution is slower than observed.
See the passage in the paper
The simulated disks emit a similar amount of flux in Stage 0 compared to the Class 0 Perseus disks.
Result The models reproduce observed dust-disk radii reasonably well for the compared Class I and II samples.
See the passage in the paper
We reproduce the median of the observations quite well, as well as the spread (excluding the smallest observed disk).
Result Simulated Class I disks have gas and dust masses that are generally too high, and the models do not reproduce the low-mass end of the observed distributions.
See the passage in the paper
While we can reasonably reproduce the brightest disks, we fail to replicate the low-mass end of the observed distributions.
Result The tested variations in initial parameters change disk properties but do not remove the disagreement with observations.
See the passage in the paper
Varying these parameters alone is unlikely to resolve the discrepancies reported above between observations and simulations, in terms of both median and spread of the distributions.
Authors’ interpretation The authors suggest that disk-environment interactions or other missing processes may be needed to explain the observed range of disk masses.
See the passage in the paper
We conclude that additional mechanisms arising from the interaction of protoplanetary disks with the environment in which they form may be needed to resolve the reported discrepancies with observations, and leave their implementation to future work.

Limitations

The model idealizes collapse as isolated and axisymmetric and omits magnetic fields and core-scale turbulence.
See the passage in the paper
It assumes that disks form in isolation (as discussed below) and from an axisymmetric collapse, and does not account for magnetic fields or core-scale turbulence.
The simulations end at 1 Myr, so comparisons with older Class II disks are uncertain.
See the passage in the paper
Our simulations have run up to 1 Myr, while the disks in the exoALMA sample are considered to be older.
The dust treatment uses two populations and a fixed power-law size distribution rather than a multi-bin coagulation calculation.
See the passage in the paper
A more sophisticated approach requires solving for the Smoluchowski equation for multiple dust bins and is beyond the scope of the present study.

Why it matters

The study finds that self-gravity and viscosity alone can plausibly account for some of the brightest disks and several observed size constraints, especially at early stages. Explaining the lower masses and broader observed distributions likely requires additional processes, potentially including environmental effects.

Written by AI from the paper. Passages are checked word for word against the text we analysed; the rest may contain errors.

AI-generated keywords: Protoplanetary disks; Cloud collapse; Disk self-gravity; Dust evolution; Millimeter observations

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Comprehensive Summary
Layman's Summary
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Original abstract

The paper investigates whether protoplanetary disks formed through cloud collapse and evolved solely under self-gravity and turbulent viscosity can reproduce observed disk properties from the embedded Class 0 and I stages through early Class II. This question is important because observations suggest that disk substructures—and possibly planet formation—can emerge early, while estimates of dust in older disks often appear insufficient to explain planet formation. The authors use FEOSAD, a two-dimensional thin-disk hydrodynamics code that tracks gas and two dust populations during cloud collapse and disk evolution. The models include disk self-gravity, viscosity, gas–dust drag, dust growth and fragmentation, and radiative heating and cooling. The team simulates 12 clouds with initial masses ranging from 0.15 to 2.65 solar masses. Fiducial models use a viscosity parameter of 0.001, a rotational-to-gravitational energy ratio of 0.001, and a dust fragmentation speed of 5 meters per second. Eight additional simulations explore variations in these parameters. The models run for up to one million years. The team estimates disk boundaries, generates synthetic continuum fluxes, and compares the resulting distributions with surveys in Perseus, Ophiuchus, and Orion, as well as the exoALMA sample. Rather than assigning identical age limits to all systems, the authors define evolutionary stages according to the fraction of each model’s original envelope that remains. Initial cloud mass strongly influences disk evolution. More massive clouds produce larger, more massive disks that evolve more slowly. These disks can remain gravitationally unstable and develop spiral structure, while less massive disks become Keplerian sooner and lose dust more rapidly. At the end of infall, the disk-to-star mass ratio in the fiducial models is about 0.3. By one million years, the least massive disks have lost most of their dust, whereas the most massive disks can retain up to about 500 Earth masses. The adopted dust-growth and drift prescriptions produce relatively small Stokes numbers early in the evolution. This delays radial drift and helps explain why millimeter emission persists in the models. The simulations broadly reproduce observed millimeter fluxes for Class 0 disks, supporting a scenario in which self-gravity drives most transport during this early phase, with viscosity playing a secondary role. They also match the approximate sizes of many Class I and II disks. However, the modeled fluxes and disk masses decline more slowly than observed. In Perseus, the simulated median Class I millimeter flux is about four times the observed median. The simulated Stage II flux distribution is roughly two orders of magnitude higher, although this comparison is uncertain because the observed Class II cluster is older than the modeled Stage II population. For young Ophiuchus disks, the simulated median gas and dust masses exceed observed estimates by more than an order of magnitude. The models also fail to reproduce the low-mass end and broad spread of observed disk masses. Agreement is better for the selected, bright exoALMA disks: at one million years, the median simulated dust mass is about twice the observed median, while the median gas mass is about four times higher. Overall, the models reproduce disk-size distributions and gas-to-dust ratios better than mass distributions. Varying rotation, viscosity, or fragmentation speed within the explored ranges changes disk properties, sometimes by factors of about two, but does not eliminate the main discrepancies. The authors conclude that some disks, particularly the most massive observed systems, may evolve largely through self-gravity and viscosity. Other processes are likely needed to remove gas and accelerate dust evolution in less massive systems. Potential additions include photoevaporation, accretion outbursts, magnetohydrodynamic winds, and interactions with nearby stars or the surrounding star-forming environment.

Can Gravity and Turbulence Explain Young Planetary Disks?

Protoplanetary disks are the raw material for planets, but how these disks form and change over time remains an open question. Observations show that structures in disks—and perhaps the beginnings of planet formation—can appear very early. Yet many older disks seem to contain too little dust to account for the planets they might produce. In “Testing Models of Disk Formation and Gravito-Viscous Evolution Against Observations of Young Protoplanetary Disks,” Fabiola Antonietta Gerosa, Paola Pinilla, Eduard I. Vorobyov, and James McKevitt test whether cloud collapse, self-gravity, and turbulent viscosity can explain the properties of disks from their earliest stages onward.

Following disks from cloud collapse

The team uses FEOSAD, a two-dimensional hydrodynamics code that simulates the collapse of a cloud and the subsequent evolution of its disk. The models track gas and two dust populations, including how dust grows, fragments, and moves through drag with the gas. They also account for disk self-gravity, viscosity, and heating and cooling from radiation.

The researchers simulate 12 clouds with initial masses ranging from 0.15 to 2.65 times the mass of the Sun. Their fiducial models use a viscosity parameter of 0.001, a rotational-to-gravitational energy ratio of 0.001, and a dust fragmentation speed of 5 meters per second. Eight additional simulations vary these assumptions. Each model runs for as long as one million years.

To make a fair comparison with observations, the authors estimate disk boundaries and calculate the models’ expected continuum emission. They compare the results with surveys in Perseus, Ophiuchus, and Orion, along with the exoALMA sample. Rather than giving every disk the same age cutoff, they define evolutionary stages by how much of each model’s original envelope remains.

Cloud mass shapes a disk’s future

One of the clearest findings is that a cloud’s initial mass strongly influences the disk it produces. More massive clouds form larger, heavier disks that evolve more slowly. These disks can remain unstable under their own gravity and develop spiral structures. Disks formed from less massive clouds become Keplerian sooner and lose their dust more rapidly.

At the end of infall, the fiducial disks have a disk-to-star mass ratio of about 0.3. Their later outcomes vary substantially: by one million years, the least massive disks have lost most of their dust, while the most massive can retain as much as 500 Earth masses. The models also produce relatively small dust Stokes numbers early on. That slows the inward drift of millimeter-sized particles and helps preserve the disks’ millimeter emission.

Where the models match—and where they fall short

The simulations broadly reproduce observed millimeter fluxes for Class 0 disks. This supports a picture in which self-gravity drives much of the transport during this early phase, while viscosity has a secondary role. The models also match the approximate sizes of many Class I and Class II disks.

But the models generally keep more material for longer than observations suggest. In Perseus, the simulated median Class I millimeter flux is about four times the observed median. The simulated Stage II flux distribution is roughly two orders of magnitude higher, though this comparison is uncertain because the observed Class II cluster is older than the modeled Stage II population.

The mismatch is also pronounced for young Ophiuchus disks: simulated median gas and dust masses exceed observed estimates by more than an order of magnitude. The models struggle to reproduce both the low-mass end and the broad spread of observed disk masses. Agreement is better for the selected, bright exoALMA disks. At one million years, the simulated median dust mass is about twice the observed median, and the median gas mass is about four times higher.

Overall, the models reproduce disk sizes and gas-to-dust ratios better than they reproduce disk masses. Adjusting rotation, viscosity, or fragmentation speed changes predicted properties—sometimes by factors of about two—but does not remove the main discrepancies.

Why additional processes may matter

The results suggest that self-gravity and viscosity may be enough to explain the evolution of some disks, particularly the most massive observed systems. They appear less sufficient for explaining how quickly less massive disks lose gas and dust. The authors point to several processes that could help: photoevaporation, accretion outbursts, magnetohydrodynamic winds, and interactions with nearby stars or the surrounding star-forming environment.

The study’s broader message is that no single evolutionary path describes every young disk. Cloud mass sets important starting conditions, but other mechanisms likely determine whether a disk retains its material or sheds it quickly. Adding those processes to future models could help explain the full range of disks seen around young stars.

Created on 10 Nov. 2026

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Testing Models of Disk Formation and Gravito-Viscous Evolution Against Observations of Young Protoplanetary Disks

The essentials

Question

Method

Findings

Limitations

Why it matters

Read further

Definitions

Can Gravity and Turbulence Explain Young Planetary Disks?

Following disks from cloud collapse

Cloud mass shapes a disk’s future

Where the models match—and where they fall short

Why additional processes may matter

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