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We perform a comparison between two radiative transfer algorithms commonly employed in hydrodynamical calculations of star formation: grey flux limited diffusion and the hybrid scheme, in addition we compare these algorithms to results from the Monte-Carlo radiative transfer code MOCASSIN. In disc like density structures the hybrid scheme performs significantly better than the FLD method in the optically thin regions, with comparable results in optically thick regions. In the case of a forming high mass star we find the FLD method significantly underestimates the radiation pressure by a factor of ~100., Comment: 4 Pages; to appear in the proceedings of 'The Labyrinth of Star Formation', Crete, 18-22 June 2012

We consider the evaporation of close in planets by the star's intrinsic EUV and X-ray radiation. We calculate evaporation rates by solving the hydrodynamical problem for planetary evaporation including heating from both X-ray and EUV radiation. We show that most close-in planets (a<0.1 AU) are evaporating hydrodynamically, with the evaporation occurring in two distinct regimes: X-ray driven, in which the X-ray heated flow contains a sonic point, and EUV driven, in which the X-ray region is entirely sub-sonic. The mass-loss rates scale as L_X/a^2 for X-ray driven evaporation, and as Phi_*^{1/2}/a for EUV driven evaporation at early times, with mass-loss rates of order 10e10-10e14 g/s. No exact scaling exists for the mass-loss rate with planet mass and planet radius, however, in general evaporation proceeds more rapidly for planets with lower densities and higher masses. Furthermore, we find that in general the transition from X-ray driven to EUV driven evaporation occurs at lower X-ray luminosities for planets closer to their parent stars and for planets with lower densities. Coupling our evaporation models to the evolution of the high energy radiation - which falls with time - we are able to follow the evolution of evaporating planets. We find that most planets start off evaporating in the X-ray driven regime, but switch to EUV driven once the X-ray luminosity falls below a critical value. The evolution models suggest that while `hot Jupiters' are evaporating, they are not evaporating at a rate sufficient to remove the entire gaseous envelope on Gyr time-scales. However, we do find that close in Neptune mass planets are more susceptible to complete evaporation of their envelopes. Thus we conclude that planetary evaporation is more important for lower mass planets, particularly those in the `hot Neptune'/`super Earth' regime., Comment: 18 Pages, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We examine the distribution of transition discs as a function of mm flux. We confirm that as expected in any model in which most primordial discs turn into transition discs and in which mm flux declines with time, transition discs have lower mm fluxes on average than primordial discs. However, we find that the incidence of transition discs does not, as expected, fall monotonically towards large mm fluxes and we investigate the hypothesis that these mm bright transition discs may have a distinct physical origin. We find that mm bright transition discs occupy a separate region of parameter space. Transition discs in the bright mm sub-sample have systematically higher accretion rates and inner hole radii than those in the faint mm sub-sample, along with being systematically weighted to earlier spectral types., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted version: mnras letters

We discuss a hydrodynamical model for the dispersal of protoplanetary discs around young, low mass (<1.5 M_sun) stars by photoevaporation from the central object's energetic radiation, which considers the far-ultraviolet as well as the X-ray component of the radiation field. We present analytical scaling relations and derive estimates for the total mass-loss rates, as well as discussing the existence of similarity solutions for flows from primordial discs and discs with inner holes. Furthermore, we perform numerical calculations, which span a wide range of parameter space and allow us to provide accurate scalings of the mass-loss rates with the physical parameters of the systems (X-ray and FUV luminosity, stellar mass, disc mass, disc temperature and inner hole radius). The model suggest that the X-ray component dominates the photoevaporative mass-loss rates from the inner disc. The mass-loss rates have values in the range from 10e-11 to 10e-7 M_sun/yr and scale linearly with X-ray luminosity, with only a weak dependence on the other parameters explored. However, in the case of high FUV to X-ray (L_FUV/L_X>100) luminosity ratios, the FUV constricts the X-ray flow and may dominate the mass-loss. Simulations of low mass discs with inner holes demonstrate a further stage of disc clearing, which we call `thermal sweeping'. This process occurs when the mid-plane pressure drops to sufficiently low values. At this stage a bound, warm, X-ray heated region becomes sufficiently large and unstable, such that the remaining disc material is cleared on approximately dynamical time-scales. This process significantly reduces the time taken to clear the outer regions of the disc, resulting in an expected transition disc population that will be dominated by accreting objects, as indicated by recent observations., Comment: Accepted MNRAS, 25 pages

We address the question of whether protoplanetary discs around low mass stars (e.g. M-dwarfs) may be longer lived than their solar-type counterparts. This question is particularly relevant to assess the planet-making potential of these lower mass discs. Given the uncertainties inherent to age-dating young stars, we propose an alternative approach that is to analyse the spatial distribution of disc-bearing low-mass stars and compare it to that of disc-bearing solar-type stars in the same cluster. A significant age difference between the two populations should be reflected in their average nearest neighbour distance (normalised to the number of sources), where the older population should appear more spread out. To this aim, we perform a Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) analysis on the spatial distribution of disc-bearing young stellar objects (YSOs) in six nearby low mass star forming regions. We find no evidence for significant age differences between the disc-bearing low-mass (later than M2) and 'solar-type' (earlier than M2) stars in these regions. We model our results by constructing and analysing synthetic fractal distributions that we evolve for typical values of the velocity dispersions. A comparison of simple models to our MST analysis suggests that the lifetime of discs around M-stars is similar to that of discs around solar-type stars. Furthermore, a model-independent spatial analysis of the observations robustly shows that any age differences between the two samples must be smaller than the average age difference between disc-bearing classical T-Tauri stars and disc-less Weak-Lined T-Tauri stars., Comment: 8 pages, 3 Figures, 3Tables; Accepted MNRAS

We have performed hydrodynamic and radiative transfer calculations of a photoevaporating disc around a Herbig Ae/Be star to determine the evolution and observational impact of dust entrained in the wind. We find that the wind selectively entrains grains of different sizes at different radii resulting in a dust population that varies spatially and increases with height above the disc at radii > 10 AU. This variable grain population results in a 'wingnut' morphology to the dust density distribution. We calculate images of this dust distribution at NIR wavelengths that also show a wingnut morphology at all wavelengths considered. We have also considered the contribution that crystalline dust grains will have in the wind and show that a photoevaporative wind can result in a significant crystallinity fraction at all radii, when the disc is edge-on. However, when the disc's photosphere is unobscured, a photoevaporative wind makes no contribution to the observable crystallinity fraction in the disc. Finally, we conclude that the analysis of extended emission around edge-on discs could provide a new and independent method of testing photoevaporation models., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

(Abridged) We explore the role of X-ray photoevaporation in the evolution and dispersal of viscously evolving T-Tauri discs. We show that the X-ray photoevaporation wind rates scale linearly with X-ray luminosity, such that the observed range of X-ray luminosities for solar-type T-Tauri stars (10e28-10e31 erg\s) gives rise to vigorous disc winds with rates of order 10e-10-10e-7 M_sun/yr. We use the wind solutions from radiation-hydrodynamic models, coupled to a viscous evolution model to construct a population synthesis model so that we may study the physical properties of evolving discs and so-called `transition discs'. Current observations of disc lifetimes and accretion rates can be matched by our model assuming a viscosity parameter alpha = 2.5e-3. Our models confirm that X-rays play a dominant role in the evolution and dispersal of protoplanetary discs giving rise to the observed diverse population of inner hole `transition' sources which include those with massive outer discs, those with gas in their inner holes and those with detectable accretion signatures. To help understand the nature of observed transition discs we present a diagnostic diagram based on accretion rates versus inner hole sizes that demonstrate that, contrary to recent claims, many of the observed accreting and non accreting transition discs can easily be explained by X-ray photoevaporation. Finally, we confirm the conjecture of Drake et al. (2009), that accretion is suppressed by the X-rays through `photoevaporation starved accretion' and predict this effect can give rise to a negative correlation between X-ray luminosity and accretion rate, as reported in the Orion data., Comment: Figure 12 and 13 have been updated. In the original version the results from an unused model run were plotted by mistake

We present a calculation of the atomic and low-ionisation emission line spectra of photoevaporating protoplanetary discs. Line luminosities and profiles are obtained from detailed photoionisation calculations of the disc and wind structures surrounding young active solar-type stars. The disc and wind density and velocity fields were obtained from the recently developed radiation-hydrodynamic models of Owen et al., that include stellar X-ray and EUV irradiation of protoplanetary discs at various stages of clearing, from primordial sources to inner hole sources of various hole sizes. Our models compare favourably with currently available observations, lending support to an X-ray driven photoevaporation model for disc dispersal. In particular, we find that X-rays drive a warm, predominantly neutral flow where the OI 6300A line can be produced by neutral hydrogen collisional excitation. Our models can, for the first time, provide a very good match to both luminosities and profiles of the low-velocity component of the OI 6300A line and other forbidden lines observed by Hartigan et al., which covered a large sample of T-Tauri stars. We find that the OI 6300A and the NeII 12.8um lines are predominantly produced in the X-ray-driven wind and thus appear blue-shifted by a few km/s for some of the systems when observed at non-edge-on inclinations. We note however that blue-shifts are only produced under certain conditions: X-ray luminosity, spectral shape and inner hole size all affect the location of the emitting region and the physical conditions in the wind. We caution therefore that while a blueshifted line is a tell-tale sign of an outflow, the lack of a blueshift should not be necessarily interpreted as a lack of outflow., Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, accepted to be published in MNRAS - changes in the revised version: reference list updated