Related papers: Initial Planetesimal Sizes and the Size Distributi…
Using numerical simulations, we examine the structure of a cometary population near a massive planet, such as a giant planet of the Solar system, starting with one-planet approximation (the Sun plus one planet). By studying the…
We present N-body simulations of planetary accretion beginning with 1 km radius planetesimals in orbit about a 1 solar mass star at 0.4 AU. The initial disk of planetesimals contains too many bodies for any current N-body code to integrate;…
We present a new multi-annulus code for the study of collisionally evolving extended debris discs. We first aim to confirm results obtained for a single-annulus system, namely that the size distribution in "real" debris discs always departs…
Observations of dusty debris disks can be used to test theories of planetesimal coagulation. Planetesimals of sizes up to a couple thousand kms are embedded in these disks and their mutual collisions generate the small dust grains that are…
The outcome of collisions between small icy bodies, such as Kuiper belt objects, is poorly understood and yet a critical component of the evolution of the trans-Neptunian region. The expected physical properties of outer solar system…
In a protoplanetary disk, dust aggregates in the $\mu$m to mm size range possess mean collision velocities of 10 to 60 ms$^{-1}$ with respect to dm- to m-size bodies. We performed laboratory collision experiments to explore this parameter…
The size of a planet is an observable property directly connected to the physics of its formation and evolution. We used precise radius measurements from the California-Kepler Survey (CKS) to study the size distribution of 2025…
We propose a Roman Space Telescope survey to investigate fundamental properties of the distant solar system in the region of the Kuiper Belt where object characteristics and the size distribution are inaccessible from any other telescope.…
Planetary embryos are built through the collisional growth of 10-100 km sized objects called planetesimals, a formerly large population of objects, of which asteroids, comets and Kuiper-Belt objects represent the leftovers from planet…
We show that small solids in low mass, turbulent protoplanetary disks collect into self-gravitating rings. Growth is faster than disk lifetimes and radial drift times for moderately strong turbulence, characterized by dimensionless…
We present a new scheme for determining the shape of the size distribution, and its evolution, for collisional cascades of planetesimals undergoing destructive collisions and loss processes like Poynting-Robertson drag. The scheme treats…
The inclination distribution of the Kuiper belt provides unique constraints on its origin and dynamical evolution, motivating vertically resolved observations of extrasolar planetesimal belts. We present ALMA observations of millimeter…
Detecting heat from minor planets in the outer solar system is challenging, yet it is the most efficient means for constraining the albedos and sizes of Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) and their progeny, the Centaur objects. These physical…
Catastrophic planetesimal disruptions offer a unique opportunity to study and characterize large planetesimal populations in exoplanetary systems that are not currently detectable by modern observatories. The unexpected discovery of a…
We describe calculations of the evolution of an ensemble of small planetesimals in the outer solar system. In a solar nebula with a mass of several times the Minimum Mass Solar Nebula, objects with radii of 100-1000 km can form on…
The formation of planetesimals is often accredited to collisional sticking of dust grains. The exact process is unknown, as collisions between larger aggregates tend to lead to fragmentation or bouncing rather than sticking. Recent…
The formation of a solar system is believed to have followed a multi-stage process around a protostar. Whipple first noted that planetesimal growth by particle agglomeration is strongly influenced by gas drag; there is a "bottleneck" at the…
The scattering of small bodies by planets is an important dynamical process in planetary systems. We present an analytical model to describe this process using the simplifying assumption that each particle's dynamics is dominated by a…
Models for the steady state collisional evolution of low eccentricity planetesimal belts identify debris disks with hot dust at 1AU, like eta Corvi and HD69830, as anomalous since collisional processing should have removed most of the…
We report several results related to the dynamical evolution of dust produced in the Kuiper Belt (KB). We show that its particle size frequency distribution in space is greatly changed from the distribution at production, as a results of…