Planet–disk interaction in VSI-active disks

The vertical shear instability (VSI) is a popular mechanism that has been proposed to explain accretion in protoplanetary disks, and could be observable in the near future. With high-resolution numerical hydrodynamics simulations, we model the behavior of the VSI in protoplanetary disks and measure its accretion and mixing capabilities with and without embedded planets. We verify that the VSI can contribute to the observed accretion stress with α~10^-4 and show that, depending on disk conditions, an embedded planet can coexist with or suppress the VSI turbulent stress. Our results suggest that observations of VSI signatures are unlikely in the presence of massive planets, but might become feasible in the future as technological advancements are made in radio interferometry.