Soutenance de thèse de Guillaume Schworer le mardi 11 octobre 2016

Titre de la thèse

Interferometric observations to analyze circumstellar environments and planetary formation

Directeur de thèse

Vincent Coudé du Foresto

Résumé

The dust- and gas-rich disks surrounding numerous pre-main-sequence stars are of key interest for unveiling how planetary system are formed ; they are the initial conditions for planetary formation. Protoplanetary disks have a rich structure, with different physics playing a role in different regions of the disk. The dynamic ranges involved span two to five orders of magnitudes on spatial scales, orbital times, temperatures, and much more in dust- or gas-densities. The extreme dynamic ranges involved in the structure and composition of these objects mean that very different observational techniques have to be combined together to probe their various regions.

This PhD makes use of new K, L and M-band imaging and Sparse-Aperture-Masking (SAM) Interferometric measurements, 3-4 micron spectroscopy, together with published 8.6 and 18.7 micron images and spectral energy distribution (SED) fluxes from UV to mm-wavelength to instruct a new comprehension of the famous IRS-48 object, and uncover the delicate balance of physical processes at stake.

This PhD reports the first ever direct imaging of the full extents of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and very small grains (VSG) ring in a young circumstellar disk, presents a revised model for the IRS-48 object to explain the rich and complex dust- and gas-environment observed from near-infrared to centimeter wavelengths, and sets limits on how much silicates grains - hence replenishment - is to be expected in the PAH and VSG ring.

Radiative transfer modelling of the disk-structure and grains compositions converges to a classical-grains outer-disk from 55 AU combined with an unsettled VSG & PAH-ring, where the inner- and outer-rim are resolved : 11 and 26 AU. A brighter hence larger central-star with modified extinction parameters accounts for the near-infrared flux observed in the SED : the inner-most disk at 1 AU is not needed. The revised stellar parameters place this system on a 4 Myr evolutionary track, much younger than the previous estimations, in better agreement with the surrounding region and disk-dispersal observations. Using closure-phases, two over-luminosities are found in the PAH-ring, at color-temperatures consistent with the radiative transfer simulations ; one follows a sub-Keplerian circular orbit. This PhD also shows that only very few settled thermal silicates can be co-located with the PAH-ring, with a depletion factor of 5-6 compared to classical circumstellar dust-to-PAH abundances. A 3 Jupiter-masses companion on a 40 AU orbit is compatible with the new disk structure and the previous mm-grains asymmetry.

The IRS-48 disk is found to be void of dust-grains in the first 55 AU, except for a 3.7e-10 Solar-masses of a mixture of ionized and neutral PAH, and VSG. This places IRS-48 at the final stage of transition disks, when photo-evaporation dominates the disk evolution and eventually causes dispersal. Given the highly radiating environment, this PhD also highlights the probable replenishment of the inner PAH & VSG-ring through the channeling of such particles from the outer reservoir, due to the on-going accretion on the companion.