Protoplanetary Disks Revealed by ALMA

Abstract

Observational studies of protoplanetary disks with ALMA are reviewed. Outstanding mapping capability of ALMA has allowed us to reveal internal structure of protoplanetary disks in unprecedented detail. Its remarkable achievements include detection of small-scale structure directly linked to the planet formation and discovery of significant dust concentration in a disk. Asymmetry in a disk and a hint of the formation of gaseous planets within a timescale of 10⁶ years were not seriously considered in a classical theory for the solar system formation, but these can be regarded as the clues to the general theory for the formation of planetary systems in the universe.