Planet formation around Intermediate-mass stars I: Different disc evolutionary pathways as a function of stellar mass (2311.03934v1)

Abstract: The study of protoplanetary disc evolution and planet formation has mainly concentrated on solar (and low) mass stars since they host the majority of the confirmed exoplanets. Nevertheless, the numerous planets found orbiting stars up to $\sim3M_\odot$ has sparked interest in understanding how they form and how their hosting discs evolve. Our goal is to improve our knowledge on the gas disc evolution around intermediate mass stars for future planet formation studies. We study the long-term evolution of protoplanetary discs affected by viscous accretion, X-ray and FUV photoevaporation from the central star around stars between $1 - 3M_\odot$ considering the effects of stellar evolution. We explore different values of the viscosity parameter and the initial mass of the disc. We find that the evolutionary pathway of disc dispersal depends on the stellar mass. Our simulations reveal four distinct evolutionary pathways for the gas disc not reported before that are a consequence of stellar evolution, and which will likely impact dust evolution and planet formation. As the stellar mass grows from 1 to $\sim2M_\odot$, the disc evolution changes from the conventional inside-out clearing to a homogeneous disc evolution scenario where both inner and outer discs, formed after photoevaporation opened a gap, vanish over a similar timescale. As the stellar mass continues to increase, reaching $\sim 3M_\odot$, we have identified a distinct pathway that we refer to as revenant disc evolution, where the inner and outer discs reconnect after the gap opened. For the largest masses, we observe outside-in disc dispersal, in which the outer disc dissipates first due to the strong FUV photoevaporation. Revenant disc evolution stands out as it is capable of extending the disc lifespan. Otherwise, the disc dispersal time scale decreases with increasing stellar mass except for low viscosity discs.