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The increasing number of newly detected exoplanets at short orbital periods raises questions about their formation and migration histories. A particular puzzle that requires explanation arises from one of the key results of the Kepler…
The formation mechanism of planetesimals in protoplanetary discs is hotly debated. Currently, the favoured model involves the accumulation of meter-sized objects within a turbulent disc, followed by a phase of gravitational instability. At…
Galaxies above redshift 1 can be very clumpy, with irregular morphologies dominated by star complexes as large as 2 kpc and as massive as a few 10^8 or 10^9 Mo. Their co-moving densities and rapid evolution suggest that most present-day…
I argue for two modes of gas giant planet formation and discuss the conditions under which each mode operates. Gas giant planets at disk radii $r>100$ AU are likely to form in situ by disk instability, while core accretion plus gas capture…
In order to explain the main characteristics of the observed population of extrasolar planets and the giant planets in the Solar System, we need to get a clear understanding of which are the initial conditions that allowed their formation.…
In this Thesis I studied the formation of the four giant planets of the Solar System in the framework of the nucleated instability hypothesis. The model considers that solids and gas accretion are coupled in an interactive fashion, taking…
The Kepler observations indicate that many exoplanets are super-Earths, which brings about a puzzle for the core-accretion scenario. Since observed super-Earths are in the range of critical mass, they would accrete gas efficiently and…
We study the initial development, structure and evolution of protoplanetary clumps formed in 3D resistive MHD simulations of self-gravitating disks. The magnetic field grows by means of the recently identified gravitational instability…
The effects of gas pressure gradients on the motion of solid grains in the solar nebula substantially enhances the efficiency of forming protoplanetary cores in the standard core accretion model in 'hybrid' scenarios for gas/ice giant…
To explain important properties of extrasolar planetary systems (eg. close-in hot Jupiters, resonant planets) an evolutionary scenario which allows for radial migration of planets in disks is required. During their formation protoplanets…
The ubiquity of planets and diversity of planetary systems reveal planet formation encompass many complex and competing processes. In this series of papers, we develop and upgrade a population synthesis model as a tool to identify the…
Kepler has identified over 600 multiplanet systems, many of which have several planets with orbital distances smaller than that of Mercury -- quite different from the Solar System. Because these systems may be difficult to explain in the…
The disk instability model is a promising pathway for giant planet formation in various conditions. At the moment, population synthesis models are used to investigate the outcomes of this theory, where a key ingredient of the disk…
Characterization of migration in gravitationally unstable disks is necessary to understand the fate of protoplanets formed by disk instability. As part of a larger study, we are using a 3D radiative hydrodynamics code to investigate how an…
We use time-dependent, one-dimensional disc models to investigate the evolution of protostellar discs that form through the collapse of molecular cloud cores and in which the primary transport mechanism is self-gravity. We assume that these…
We quantify the utility of large radial velocity surveys for constraining theoretical models of Type II migration and protoplanetary disk physics. We describe a theoretical model for the expected radial distribution of extrasolar planets…
Planets appear to form in environments shaped by the gas flowing through protostellar disks to the central young stars. The flows in turn are governed by orbital angular momentum transfer. In this chapter we summarize current understanding…
Protoplanetary disks dissipate rapidly after the central star forms, on time-scales comparable to those inferred for planet formation. In order to allow the formation of planets, disks must survive the dispersive effects of UV and X-ray…
Torque fluctuations due to magnetorotational turbulence in proto-planetary disks may greatly influence the migration patterns and survival probabilities of nascent planets. Provided that the turbulence is a stationary stochastic process…
Evidence of mutually inclined planetary orbits has been reported for giant planets these last years. Here we aim to study the impact of eccentric and inclined massive giant planets on the terrestrial planet formation process, and…