Proefschrift

Unveiling the third dimension: vertical structure as a probe of planet formation conditions

Protoplanetary disks are the gas and dust environments where planetary systems form around young stars. Using observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) this thesis analyses the gaseous molecular reservoir, using multiple tracers to resolve the 3D structure of protoplanetary disks.

Auteur: T.P. Paneque Carreño
Datum: 13 september 2024
Links: Thesis in Leiden Repository

Using observational and theoretical methods the focus is to study the vertical disk structure, which is expected to contain crucial information on the material distribution, thermal and radiative disk structure. This work presents new techniques to use the vertical dimension as a probe of the planet-forming conditions, obtaining measurements of material turbulence, total disk mass and molecular depletion. Overall, the results from this thesis have laid the foundations for many future studies focusing on resolving the initial planet-forming conditions throughout the 3D protoplanetary disk structure.