Global models of turbulence in protoplanetary disks I. A cylindrical potential on a Cartesian grid and transport of solids

Aims. We present global 3DMHD simulations of disks of gas and solids, aiming at developing models that can be used to study various scenarios of planet formation and planet-disk interaction in turbulent accretion disks. A second goal is to demonstrate that Cartesian codes are comparable to cylindrical and spherical ones in handling the magnetohydrodynamics of the disk simulations while offering advantages, such as the absence of a grid singularity, for certain applications, e.g., circumbinary disks and disk-jet simulations. Methods. We employ the PENCIL CODE, a 3D high-order finite-difference MHD code using Cartesian coordinates. We solve the equations of ideal MHD with a local isothermal equation of state. Planets and stars are treated as particles evolved with an N-body scheme. Solid boulders are treated as individual superparticles that couple to the gas through a drag force that is linear in the local relative velocity of gas and particle. Results. We find that Cartesian grids are well-suited for accretion disk problems. The disk-in-a-box models based on Cartesian grids presented here develop and sustainMHD turbulence, in good agreement with published results achieved with cylindrical codes. We investigate the dependence of the magnetorotational instability on disk scale height, finding evidence that the turbulence generated by the magnetorotational instability grows with thermal pressure. The turbulent stresses depend on the thermal pressure obeying a power law of 0.24± 0.03, compatible with the value of 0.25 found in shearing box calculations. The ratio of stresses decreased with increasing temperature. We also study the dynamics of boulders in the hydromagnetic turbulence. The vertical turbulent diffusion of the embedded boulders is comparable to the turbulent viscosity of the flow. Significant overdensities arise in the solid component as boulders concentrate in high pressure regions.