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Vortex formation through the Rossby wave instability (RWI) in protoplanetarydiscs has been invoked to play a role in planet formation theory, and suggestedto explain the observation of large dust asymmetries in several transitionaldiscs. However, whether or not vortex formation operates in layered accretiondiscs, i.e. models of protoplanetary discs including dead zones near the discmidplane --- regions that are magnetically inactive and the effective viscositygreatly reduced --- has not been verified. As a first step toward testing therobustness of vortex formation in layered discs, we present non-linearhydrodynamical simulations of global 3D protoplanetary discs with an imposedkinematic viscosity that increases away from the disc midplane. Two sets ofnumerical experiments are performed: (i) non-axisymmetric instability ofartificial radial density bumps in viscous discs; (ii) vortex-formation atplanetary gap edges in layered discs. Experiment (i) shows that the linearinstability is largely unaffected by viscosity and remains dynamical. Thedisc-planet simulations also show the initial development of vortices at gapedges, but in layered discs the vortices are transient structures whichdisappear well into the non-linear regime. We suggest that the long termsurvival of columnar vortices, such as those formed via the RWI, requires loweffective viscosity throughout the vertical extent of the disc, so suchvortices do not persist in layered discs.

Testing large-scale vortex formation against viscous layers in three-dimensional discs