Investigating Disk Evolution: A High Spatial Resolution Mid‐Infrared Survey of T Tauri Stars

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Abstract

We present a high spatial resolution, 10-20 micron survey of 65 T Tauri\nbinary stars in Taurus, Ophiuchus, and Corona Australis using the Keck 10 m\ntelescopes. Designed to probe the inner ~1 AU region of the circumstellar disks\naround the individual stellar components in these binary systems, this study\nincreases the number of binaries with spatially resolved measurements at 10\nmicron by a factor of ~5. Combined with resolved near-infrared photometry and\nspectroscopic accretion diagnostics, we find that ~10% of stars with a\nmid-infrared excess do not appear to be accreting. In contrast to an actively\naccreting disk system, these passive disks have significantly lower\nnear-infrared colors that are, in most cases, consistent with photospheric\nemission, suggesting the presence of an inner disk hole. In addition, there\nappears to be a spectral type/mass dependence associated with the presence of a\npassive disk, with all passive disks occurring around M type stars. The\npossibility that the passive disks are caused by the presence of an as yet\nundetected companion at a small separation (0.3-3 AU) is possible for any\nindividual system, however, it cannot account for the spectral type dependence\nof the passive disk sample as a whole. We propose that these passive disks\nrepresent a subset of T Tauri stars that are undergoing significant disk\nevolution. The fraction of observed passive disks and the observed spectral\ntype dependence can both be explained by models of disk evolution that include\ndisk photoevaporation from the central star. (abridged).\n

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