PF-03-0008

Investigating the effect of radiation pressure on protoplanetary disc dispersal

Alfie Robinson

Current models of internal photoevaporation imply the existence of a large population of non-accreting transition discs, due to the length of time needed to clear the outer disc. These results do not agree with observations that suggest the outer disc is cleared on a shorter timescale; this inconsistency is referred to as the “relic disc” problem. Previous work suggested that these short timescales could be achieved by the removal of the dust component of the disc via radiation pressure from the central star. In this work I present our first attempts to model this process self-consistently by moving to a 2D framework that will incorporate a self-consistent calculation of the dust particle distribution in order to more accurately determine dust mass-loss rates. If the clear-out timescale remains short, this will support the conclusion that a combination of photoevaporation and radiation pressure mechanisms can lead to disc dispersal that fits the observational constraints. Solving this problem has involved developing a new GPU-accelerated code, cuDisc, that allows the user to run dynamical simulations of discs whilst updating the temperature structure based on the current dust distribution.