Molecular line emission from protoplanetary disks is a powerful tool to constrain their physical and chemical structure. Nevertheless, only a few molecules have been detected in disks so far. We take advantage of the enhanced capabilities of the IRAM
30m telescope by using the new broad band correlator (FTS) to search for so far undetected molecules in the protoplanetary disks surrounding the TTauri stars DM Tau, GO Tau, LkCa 15 and the Herbig Ae star MWC 480. We report the first detection of HC3N at 5 sigma in the GO Tau and MWC 480 disks with the IRAM 30-m, and in the LkCa 15 disk (5 sigma), using the IRAM array, with derived column densities of the order of 10^{12}cm^{-2}. We also obtain stringent upper limits on CCS (N < 1.5 x 10^{12} cm^{-3}). We discuss the observational results by comparing them to column densities derived from existing chemical disk models (computed using the chemical code Nautilus) and based on previous nitrogen and sulfur-bearing molecule observations. The observed column densities of HC3N are typically two orders of magnitude lower than the existing predictions and appear to be lower in the presence of strong UV flux, suggesting that the molecular chemistry is sensitive to the UV penetration through the disk. The CCS upper limits reinforce our model with low elemental abundance of sulfur derived from other sulfur-bearing molecules (CS, H2S and SO).
The overall properties of disks surrounding intermediate PMS stars (HAe) are not yet well constrained by current observations. The disk inclination, which significantly affect SED modeling, is often unknown. We attempted to resolve the disks around C
Q Tau and MWC 758, to provide accurate constraints on the disk parameters, in particular the temperature and surface density distribution. We report arcsecond resolution observations of dust and CO line emissions with the IRAM array. The disk properties are derived using a standard disk model. We use the Meudon PDR code to study the chemistry. The two disks share some common properties. The mean CO abundance is low despite disk temperatures above the CO condensation temperature. Furthermore, the CO surface density and dust opacity have different radial dependence. The CQ Tau disk appears warmer, and perhaps less dense than that of MWC 758. Modeling the chemistry, we find that photodissociation of CO is a viable mechanism to explain the low abundance. The photospheric flux is not sufficient for this: a strong UV excess is required. In CQ Tau, the high temperature is consistent with expectation for a PDR. The PDR model has difficulty explaining the mild temperatures obtained in MWC 758, for which a low gas-to-dust ratio is preferred. A yet unexplored alternative could be that, despite currently high gas temperatures, CO remains trapped in grains, as the models suggest that large grains can be cold enough to prevent thermal desorption of CO. The low inclination of the CQ Tau disk, ~30^circ, challenges previous interpretations given for the UX Ori - like luminosity variations of this star. We conclude that CO cannot be used as a simple tracer of gas-to-dust ratio, the CO abundance being affected by photodissociation, and grain growth.
