Smoothed particle hydrodynamics modelling of dusty protoplanetary discs

Recent high resolution observations of protoplanetary discs, the birthplace of planets, reveal previously unseen substructures, including rings and gaps, spirals, arcs, and cavities. These observations require modelling to interpret and understand. We use existing hydrodynamical and radiative transfer methods to model the nearest protoplanetary disc, and explore the hypothesis that planets embedded in the disc are the cause of the observed rings and gaps. We develop numerical methods to model a mixture of gas and dust using smoothed particle hydrodynamics, and perform rigorous tests of the method, demonstrating its accuracy and stability, including in the context of protoplanetary discs.