No Significant Rotation of the Spiral Structure in the IM Lup Protoplanetary Disk

@misc{hiraide2026significant,
  title = {{No Significant Rotation of the Spiral Structure in the IM Lup Protoplanetary Disk}},
  author = {Yuto Hiraide and Mastaka Aizawa and Munetake Momose},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.07405},
  eprint = {2611.07405},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.07405},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - No Significant Rotation of the Spiral Structure in the IM Lup Protoplanetary Disk
AU  - Yuto Hiraide
AU  - Mastaka Aizawa
AU  - Munetake Momose
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/05
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.07405
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.07405
AB  - Spiral structures are often observed in protoplanetary disks, but their origins remain uncertain. Yoshida et al. (2025) reported a pattern speed consistent with local Keplerian rotation for the m=2 spiral in the dusty disk around IM Lup using multi-epoch ALMA observations, supporting a gravitational instability (GI)-driven origin. However, recent studies revise the disk geometry of IM Lup, motivating a reassessment of its spiral pattern speed. In this study, we reanalyze the disk geometry of the same multi-epoch data using visibility-based continuum emission modeling. The inferred disk geometries differ from those adopted in previous studies by a few degrees but are consistent across epochs and with recent independent estimates based on gas emission analyses. The revised geometries yield weaker residuals and more physically plausible radial spiral phase profiles. Unlike previous studies, our remeasured spiral pattern speeds are consistent with zero rotation within the uncertainties. We conclude that the previously reported Keplerian-like motion can be explained by a mismatch in the adopted disk geometry, which affects the spiral phases measured in Band 6 (2017, 2019) and Band 7 (2024) differently. In addition, we identify a tentative large-scale one-armed spiral-like structure extending beyond the known m=2 spiral, which may provide clues to additional perturbations, such as an embedded planet or late-stage infall. Future high-resolution Band~6 observations with a longer time baseline will be essential for more accurately determining the spiral pattern speed.
ER  -