The two modes of gas giant planet formation

Abstract

I argue for two modes of gas giant planet formation and discuss the conditions under which each mode operates. Gas giant planets at disk radii r>100 AU are likely to form in situ by disk instability, while core accretion plus gas capture remains the dominant formation mechanism for r < 100 AU. During the mass accretion phase, mass loading can push disks toward fragmentation conditions at large r. Massive, extended disks can fragment into clumps of a few to tens of Jupiter masses. This is confirmed by radiation hydrodynamics simulations. The two modes of gas giant formation should lead to a bimodal distribution of gas giant semimajor axes. Because core accretion is expected to be less efficient in low-metallicity systems, the ratio of gas giants at large r to planets at small r should increase with decreasing metallicity.