Self-organisation in protoplanetary discs

Context. Recent observations have revealed organised structures in protoplanetary discs, such as axisymmetric rings or horseshoe concentrations, evocative of large-scale vortices. These structures are often interpreted as the result of planet-disc interactions. However, these discs are also known to be unstable to the magneto-rotational instability (MRI) which is believed to be one of the dominant angular momentum transport mechanism in these objects. It is therefore natural to ask whether the MRI itself could produce these structures without invoking planets.