Line Ratios Reveal N 2 H + Emission Originates above the Midplane in TW Hydrae

Abstract

Line ratios for different transitions of the same molecule have long been used as a probe of gas temperature. Here we use ALMA observations of the N 2 H + J  = 1–0 and J  = 4–3 lines in the protoplanetary disk around TW Hya to derive the temperature at which these lines emit. We find an averaged temperature of 39 K with a 1 σ uncertainty of 2 K for the radial range 0.″8–2″, which is significantly warmer than the expected midplane temperature beyond 0.″5 in this disk. We conclude that the N 2 H + emission in TW Hya is not emitting from near the midplane, but rather from higher in the disk, in a region likely bounded by processes such as photodissociation or chemical reprocessing of CO and N 2 rather than freeze-out.