Modeling Protoplanetary Disk Continuum Surface Brightness : Inference for high-resolution ALMA data

Millimeter continuum emission from dust in disks provides a key observational constraint on planet formation. However, radio interferometry presents challenges for modeling the dust surface brightness. Previously, the standard approach has used analytic brightness profiles, derived from gas dynamics.  In the ALMA era, modeling now includes ad-hoc complexity to explain features unexplained by simpler analytic models.  To find an appropriate model for high-resolution data, we have developed a flexible method to infer the dust surface brightness. Unlike simple analytic, parametric models, our model is well-suited to highlighting features such as gaps and overdensities – useful in the era of ALMA data.