Photoevaporating transitional discs and molecular cloud cores

We investigate the evolution of photoevaporating protoplanetary discs including mass influx from molecular cloud cores. We examine the influence of cloud core properties on the formation and evolution of transitional discs. We use one-dimensional thin disc assumption and calculate the evolution of the protoplanetary disc. The effects of X-ray photoevaporation are also included. Our calculations suggest that most discs should experience the transitional disc phase within 10 Myr. The formation time of a gap and its initial location are functions of the properties of the cloud cores. In some circumstances, discs can open two gaps by photoevaporation alone. The two gaps form when the gas in the disc can expand to large radius and if the mass at large radius is sufficiently small. The surface density profile of the disc determines whether the two gaps can form. Since the structure of a disc is determined by the properties of a molecular cloud core, the core properties determine the formation of two gaps in the disc. We further find that even when the photoevaporation rate is reduced to 10 per cent of the standard value, two gaps can still form in the disc. The only difference is that the formation time is delayed.