Related papers: Dense planetary rings and the viscous overstabilit…
Planetary rings sustain a continual bombardment of hypervelocity meteoroids that erode the surfaces of ring particles on time scales of 10^5 - 10^7 years. The debris ejected from such impacts re-accretes on to the ring, though often at a…
We study particle dynamics in local two-dimensional simulations of self-gravitating accretion discs with a simple cooling law. It is well known that the structure which arises in the gaseous component of the disc due to a gravitational…
Planetary rings are often speculated as being a relatively common attribute of giant planets, partly based on their prevalence within the Solar System. However, their formation and sustainability remain a topic of open discussion, and the…
To improve our understanding of orbital instabilities in compact planetary systems, we compare suites of $N$-body simulations against numerical integrations of simplified dynamical models. We show that, surprisingly, dynamical models that…
Stationary stellar systems with radially elongated orbits are subject to radial orbit instability -- an important phenomenon that structures galaxies. Antonov (1973) presented a formal proof of the instability for spherical systems in the…
Narrow planetary rings are eccentric and inclined. Particles within a given ring must therefore share the same pericenter and node. We solve for the three-dimensional geometries and mass distributions that enable the Uranian Alpha and Beta…
The core accretion scenario of planet formation assumes that planetesimals and planetary embryos are formed during the primordial, gaseous phases of the protoplanetary disk. However, how the dust particles overcome the traditional growth…
Path equations of different orbiting objects in the presence of very strong gravitational fields are essential to examine the impact of its gravitational effect on the stability of each system. Implementing an analogous method, used to…
A pseudo-Newtonian Hill problem based on a potential proposed by Artemova et al. [Astroph. J. 461 (1996) 565] is presented. This potential reproduces some of the general relativistic effects due to the spin angular momentum of the bodies,…
We construct the first dynamically stable ergostars (equilibrium neutron stars that contain an ergoregion) for a compressible, causal equation of state. We demonstrate their stability by evolving both strict and perturbed equilibrium…
We study the fragmentation of collisional ring galaxies (CRGs) using a linear perturbation analysis that computes the physical conditions of gravitational instability, as determined by the balance of self-gravity of the ring against…
In this paper we consider a Vlasov or collisionless Boltzmann equation describing the dynamics of planetary rings. We propose a simple physical model, where the particles of the rings move under the gravitational Newtonian potential of two…
Planetary rings are the only nearby astrophysical disks, and the only disks that have been investigated by spacecraft. Although there are significant differences between rings and other disks, chiefly the large planet/ring mass ratio that…
Planet formation scenarios and the observed planetary dynamics in binaries pose a number of theoretical challenges, especially in what concerns circumbinary planetary systems. We explore the dynamical stirring of a planetesimal circumbinary…
The evolution of closed gravitational systems is studied by means of $N$-body simulations. This, as well as being interesting in its own right, provides insight into the dynamical and statistical mechanical properties of gravitational…
The increasing number of extra-solar planets opens a new opportunity for studies of the formation of planetary systems. Resonant systems are of particular interest because their dynamical configuration provides constraints on the…
Cassini states correspond to equilibria of the spin axis of a body when its orbit is perturbed. They were initially described for satellites, but the spin axis of stars and planets undergoing strong dissipation can also evolve into some…
We considered the problem of stability for planets of finite mass in binary star systems. We selected a huge set of initial conditions for planetary orbits of the S-type, to perform high precision and very extended in time integrations. For…
We investigate the formation of planetesimals via the gravitational instability of solids that have settled to the midplane of a circumstellar disk. Vertical shear between the gas and a subdisk of solids induces turbulent mixing which…
Multi-planetary systems are prevalent in our Galaxy. The long-term stability of such systems may be disrupted if a distant inclined companion excites the eccentricity and inclination of the inner planets via the eccentric Kozai-Lidov…