Fragmentation of Gravitationally Unstable Gaseous Protoplanetary Disks with Radiative Transfer

We report on the results of the first 3D SPH simulations of gravitationally unstable protoplanetary disks with radiative transfer. We adopt a flux-limited diffusion scheme justified by the high opacity of most of the disk. The optically thin surface of the disk cools as a blackbody. We find that gravitationally bound clumps with masses close to a Jupiter mass can arise. Fragmentation appears to be driven by vertical convective-like motions …