I study the dynamics of protoplanetary disks—the evolving environments where planets form—and how their structure reveals the forces at work.
Observations and theory meet in the work of my students and collaborators, tracing the structures planets leave behind.
Infrared spectra reveal the motion of gas close to young stars. This study uncovered inner and outer eccentric disk components around CI Tau that may have been shaped by a planet.
Related work on AB Aur identified an off-center compact source—a potential point source distinct from the known candidate AB Aur b.
How eccentric can a planet-perturbed disk become? This work connects numerical simulations with an analytic picture: disk eccentricity settles where a planet’s excitation balances damping from gas pressure.
The model provides a way to estimate disk eccentricity in observed systems, including CI Tau.
Radiation pressure and shadowing can destabilize dusty disks, creating asymmetric structures at the photosphere. The instability appears when optical depth is around unity, independent of gas-drag strength.
This work also yields a general sufficient condition for the Rossby wave instability.
Selected observations and simulations from the work, reproduced with figure captions and source citations.
Simulated disk morphology across planet-to-star mass ratio and surface-temperature profiles; the offset gap edges show the disk eccentricity.
Figure 11 compares the detected source with AB Aur b, pairing the CHARIS image with spatial-offset and line-profile measurements.
High-J CO emission profiles compared with circular and multicomponent fits, alongside a diagram of eccentric, antiparallel inner and outer disk components.
A schematic of the photospheric instability: radiation pressure and shadowing reinforce dust perturbations, while rotation deflects the flow.
Our group studies how planets, gas, dust, and radiation shape the structure and evolution of young planetary systems.
Eccentric planet–disk interactions and the evolution of planetary gaps.
Co-orbital dynamics in planet-disk interaction and Type III migration.
Disk dynamics shaped by light and shadow.
High-resolution spectroscopy of protoplanetary disks, including CI Tau and AB Aur.
Gravitational instability in the AB Aurigae system.
A dusty disk’s photosphere may be more than a boundary. It can be where radiation turns small disturbances into growing structure.
The Photospheric Instability and an Updated Condition for the Rossby Wave Instability ↗Simulations show radiation pressure acting together with shadowing can form dense clumps in the disk’s photospheric layers.
Linear analysis identifies the onset condition: optical depth reaches order unity. The instability persists across gas-drag strengths.
The same analysis gives a general sufficient condition for the Rossby wave instability, a route to vortex formation in disks.
Radiation pressure may help open disk cavities and rearrange dust—the material from which planets grow.
I’m an assistant professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Clemson University. My group combines observations, numerical simulations, and analytical theory to understand protoplanetary disks and planet formation.