Ring Formation by Coagulation of Dust Aggregates in the Early Phase of Disk Evolution around a Protostar

Ring structures are observed through (sub)millimeter dust continuum emission in various circumstellar disks from the early stages of class 0 and I to the late stage of class II young stellar objects (YSOs). In this paper, we study one of the possible scenarios for such ring formation, which is the coagulation of dust aggregates in the early stage. The dust grains grow in an inside-out manner because the growth timescale is roughly proportional to the orbital period. The boundary of the dust evolution can be regarded as the growth front, where the growth time is comparable to the disk age. Using radiative transfer calculations based on the dust coagulation model, we find that the growth front can be observed as a ring structure because the dust surface density changes sharply at this position. Furthermore, we confirm that the observed ring positions in YSOs with an age of ≲1 Myr are consistent with the growth front. The growth front could be important in creating the ring structure in particular for the early stage of disk evolution, such as class 0 and I sources.