An imprint of low-mass companions in the substructures of debris disks

Substellar companions and/or planets can have a significant impact on planetesimal and dust grain dynamics through gravitational perturbations, possibly causing several characteristic large-scale signatures such as gaps, misalignment, spiral density waves, and asymmetric radial/vertical density patterns in the density distribution of disk systems. Thus, tracing substellar companions such as planets or perturbers within debris disks can provide crucial insights and constraints into their evolution. While the direct detection of substellar companions in disk systems is challenging due to their small angular separation, the significant brightness contrast between a star and a planet, and the presence of small dust particles that dominate the continuum radiation across the entire spectral range, their existence can still be probed indirectly.

 

Observable planet-disk configurations with large-scale signatures in the brightness distributions (e.g., spiral structures and/or two local azimuthal maxima) have been investigated using N-body simulations, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations, and collisional evolution models of debris disk systems, both in the face-on and edge-on cases. In the present talk, we focus on the observable signatures that these interactions would leave on disks, using PHANTOM SPH code simulations. Furthermore, we will discuss the best observing strategies to detect the imprint in debris disk systems.