Effective planetary potential and gas accretion

Determine how the choice of effective planetary potential in vertically integrated two-dimensional disk simulations influences gas accretion rates onto gap-opening planets, including whether Bessel-like potentials yield results different from those obtained with Plummer potentials.

Background

The paper compares its three-dimensional simulations, which use a Plummer-smoothed planetary potential, with two-dimensional simulations employing vertically integrated disk models. The authors note that the effective potential appropriate for a vertically integrated disk is not generally equivalent to a Plummer potential and is instead closer to a Bessel potential. Because differences in the adopted potential may contribute to discrepancies between reported accretion rates, the influence of the potential choice remains unresolved and is identified as a subject for future investigation.