Develop prescriptions for eccentric planetary gap profiles

Derive detailed prescriptions for the depths and widths of gas gaps carved by massive planets on eccentric orbits across the relevant planet-mass, eccentricity, disk-viscosity, and scale-height parameter space.

Background

The paper models the asymmetric gas gaps in WISPIT 2 using qualitative results from hydrodynamic simulations and circular-orbit gap-depth relations. The authors note that massive planets can become eccentric and produce gaps whose outer portions are wider and shallower than those of circular-orbit planets.

A systematic parameterized theory or simulation-based grid for eccentric gaps would allow observed gap widths and depths to be connected more reliably to planetary masses, eccentricities, viscosity, and disk structure.

References

Unfortunately, detailed prescriptions for depth and width of eccentric gap profiles carved by massive planets are not available in the literature.

— Planetary gas gaps and kinematic signatures in the planet forming disk around WISPIT 2  (2609.05230 - Marel et al., 4 Sep 2026) in Methods, Section 2.3, subsection “Theoretical considerations on the gap profiles”

With the constraints from Eqn \ref{eq:fung1}, this would correspond to an $\alpha$-viscosity of $4\times10{-3}$, although the absolute value of $\alpha$ cannot be fully constrained from the available gap prescriptions in the literature.

— Planetary gas gaps and kinematic signatures in the planet forming disk around WISPIT 2  (2609.05230 - Marel et al., 4 Sep 2026) in Methods, Section 2.4, subsection “Thermal-chemical modeling”