Late infall episodes, where material from the surrounding environment accretes onto Class II protoplanetary disks, are emerging as a potentially important but poorly quantified driver of disk evolution. Observed as filamentary streamers in molecular lines and scattered light, such late-stage accretion can perturb disk structures through localized shocks, density enhancements, and warps, yet its chemical consequences remain poorly constrained. We present NOEMA 1.2,mm line-survey observations of the AB Aurigae system, a structured young Class II Herbig disk that shows evidence of both ongoing infall and planet formation. We detected strong azimuthal chemical diversity: SO emission is enhanced in the northern disk near the inferred streamer--disk interaction region, while C_2H emission peaks on the opposite southern side. In contrast, CS forms a nearly axisymmetric ring, while HCN and HCO+_2H-bright sector. We discuss two plausible, nonexclusive origins for the observed chemical asymmetries: (i) infall-induced heating and desorption of O-bearing ices that enhance SO and lower the local gas-phase C/O near the streamer's impact site and (ii) planet-driven substructures and localized heating or enhanced UV irradiation that can promote hydrocarbon-rich chemistry on the opposite side. These results highlight that environmental accretion and planet formation can jointly imprint azimuthal variations in disk chemistry, with potential consequences for the compositions of forming planets.
Azimuthal molecular variations in the AB Aur planet-forming disk
Haochang Jiang·E. Chapillon·Myriam Benisty·Vincent Piétu·Thomas Henning·Pablo Rivière-Marichalar·L. M. Stapper·D Semenov

