Vorticity-induced wave motion in a compressible protoplanetary disk

The impact of an isolated vortex in a compressible Keplerian disk is examined using higher order numerical solutions of the Euler and entropy-conserving energy equations. The vortex is stretched by the background shear flow with longer lasting anticyclonic vortices persisting for about 10 vortex revolutions. Simultaneously, the vortex emits transient radial waves consisting of almost axisymmetrical density/shock waves and a slower, nonaxisymmetric Rossby wave. Nonlinear processes are found to transmit a small amount of mass and angular momentum outward. These wave systems may contribute to certain transient events in proto-planetary disks as well as moving matter to the outer part of the disk. The vortex stretching and waves are found to have little long-term feedback on the baseline standard solar nebula structure except for a small second-order redistribution of mass and angular momentum, and generally confirm the globally stable structure of non self-gravitating, entropy-conserving disks.