Structure of magnetorotational instability active protoplanetary disks

Abstract

The radial drift of planetary cores poses a challenge to efficient planet formation in standard disk models. However, the rate of this migration is sensitive to both the surface density and temperature profiles of protoplanetary disks. In this paper, we present a new model to self-consistently calculate the structure of a protoplanetary disk in which the magnetorotational instability (MRI) drives angular momentum transport. In this model, we calculate a quasisteady- state disk model including a schematic representation involving efficient angular momentum transport in the active region with decreased (but non-zero) angular momentum transport in the dead zone. We find that MRI affects not only the surface density distribution but also the temperature profile. In this paper, we present our method and the key novel features evident in our fiducial model. In subsequent papers, we will use this model to study the impact of MRI on the formation and migration of planets. © 2010. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.