Ionization of protoplanetary disks by galactic cosmic rays, solar protons, and supernova remnants

Kataoka, Ryuho*; Sato, Tatsuhiko   

Estimation of the depth-dose profile of ionization in protoplanetary disks by galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), solar protons, and by supernova remnants is of great importance in the analysis of planet formation. We therefore calculated the profile using Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System PHITS. The attenuation length of GCR ionization is updated as 118 g cm, which is approximately 20% larger than the popular value. Hard and soft possible spectra of solar protons give 5% larger and 20% smaller attenuation lengths compared with those from standard GCR spectra, respectively. Further, all of the attenuation lengths become 10% larger in the compound gas of cosmic abundance, e.g. 128 g cm for GCRs, which can significantly affect the minimum estimate of the size of dead zones in protoplanetary disks.