Always look on the bright side of disks – shadows caused by warps

Shadows are commonly observed in protoplanetary disks and are often linked to a misaligned inner disk region. In order to understand shadows in observations, it is important to understand the morphology of the misalignment, which depends on itsformation and evolution. This is why I investigate misalignments and warps in grid-based hydrodynamic models. Grid-based methods have the advantage over alternative methods, such as smoothed particle hydrodynamics, that low viscosities can be modeled accurately and the surface areas can be resolved well. Both aspects are important when looking at the evolution of warped protoplanetary disks. In my grid-based simulations, I investigate a stellar fly-by as a warp formation scenario. Here, the star passing by the disk can gravitationally excite the warp if its trajectory is inclined with respect to the disk plane. These hydrodynamic simulations create a physically motivated warp morphology, which can be used to extract observational signatures in radiative transfer simulations. These synthetic observations give insight into the shadows both in scattered light images, and the implications of warps on disk kinematics. In my talk, I will present the results from both hydrodynamic simulations as well as radiative transfer models related to warped disks.