Planet Migration in Protoplanetary Disks with Rims

Abstract Complex structures, including sharp edges, rings, and gaps, have been commonly observed in protoplanetary disks with or without planetary candidates. Here we consider the possibility that they are the intrinsic consequences of angular momentum transfer mechanisms and investigate how they may influence the dynamical evolution of embedded planets. With the aid of numerical hydrodynamic simulations, we show that gas giants have a tendency to migrate away from sharp edges, whereas super-Earths embedded in the annuli tend to be retained. This implies that, observationally, Jupiters are preferentially detected in dark rings (gaps), whereas super-Earths tend to be found in bright rings (density bumps). Moreover, planets’ tidal torque provides (not necessarily predominant) feedback on the surface density profile. This tendency implies that Jupiter’s gap-opening process deepens and widens the density gap associated with the dark ring, while super-Earths can be halted by the steep surface density gradient near the disk or ring boundaries. Hence, we expect that there would be a desert for super-Earths in the surface density gap.