Destruction of Stellar Disks by Photoevaporation

Abstract

Photoevaporation may provide an explanation for the short lifetimes of disks around young stars. With the exception of neutral oxygen lines, the observed low-velocity forbidden line emission from T Tauri stars can be reproduced by photoevaporating models. The natural formation of a gap in the disk at several AU due to photoevaporation and viscous spreading provides a possible halting mechanism for migrating planets and an explanation for the abundance of observed planets at these radii.

4 pages, 5 figures; invited paper to appear in proceedings of 'Bodenheimer Fest'