GAP OPENING BY EXTREMELY LOW-MASS PLANETS IN A VISCOUS DISK
GAP OPENING BY EXTREMELY LOW-MASS PLANETS IN A VISCOUS DISK
By numerically integrating the compressible NavierāStokes equations in two dimensions, we calculate the criterion for gap formation by a very low mass (q ā¼ 10ā4) protoplanet on a fixed orbit in a thin viscous disk. In contrast with some previously proposed gap-opening criteria, we find that a planet can open ā¦