Inside-out Planet Formation. VIII. Onset of Planet Formation and the Transition Disk Phase

Journal article, 2026

Inside-out planet formation (IOPF) is a theory of in situ formation via pebble accretion of close-in Earth to super-Earth mass planets at the pressure maximum associated with the dead zone inner boundary (DZIB), whose location is set initially by thermal ionization of alkali metals at similar to 1200 K. With midplane disk temperatures determined by viscous accretional heating, the radial location of the DZIB depends on the accretion rate of the disk. Here, we investigate the ability of pebbles to be trapped at the DZIB as a function of the accretion rate and pebble size. We discuss the conditions that are needed for pebble trapping to become efficient when the accretion rate drops to similar to 10-9 M circle dot yr-1 and the resulting DZIB is at similar to 0.1 au, which is the expected evolutionary phase of the disk at the onset of IOPF. This provides an important boundary condition for IOPF theory, i.e., the properties of pebbles when planet formation begins. We find for our fiducial model that typical pebble sizes of similar to 0.5 mm are needed for pebble trapping to first become efficient at DZIBs near 0.1 au. This model may also provide an explanation for the first emergence of the transition disk phase in protoplanetary disks with accretion rates of similar to 10-9 M circle dot yr-1.