Related papers: The Brazil-nut effect and its application to aster…
A recent segregation criterion [V. Garz\'o, Phys. Rev. E \textbf{78}, 020301(R) (2008)] based on the thermal diffusion factor $\Lambda$ of an intruder in a heated granular gas described by the inelastic Enskog equation is revisited. The…
Remote measurements and in-situ observations confirm the idea that asteroids up to few hundreds of meters in size might be rubble piles. The dynamics of these objects can be studied using N-body simulations of gravitational aggregation. We…
The study of small ($<$300 m) near-Earth objects (NEOs) is important because they are more closely related than larger objects to the precursors of meteorites that fall on Earth. Collisions of these bodies with Earth are also more frequent.…
Granular material that is bound by the low gravity of a small asteroid is mobilized by slow velocity impacts. These splashes generated by impacts might play an important role in sculpting the asteroid's surface. In laboratory experiments we…
The Asteroid Belt and the Kuiper Belt are relics from the formation of our solar system. Understanding the size and spin distribution of the two belts is crucial for a deeper understanding of the formation of our solar system and the…
Knowledge of the interior density distribution of an asteroid can reveal its composition and constrain its evolutionary history. However, most asteroid observational techniques are not sensitive to interior properties. We investigate the…
Based on the Boltzmann-Enskog kinetic theory, we develop a hydrodynamic theory for the well known (reverse) Brazil nut segregation in a vibro-fluidized granular mixture. Using an analogy with standard fluid mechanics, we have recently…
We present molecular dynamics simulations on the segregation of binary mixtures in a high-velocity rotating drum. Depending on the ratio of particle's radius and density, the ring-like spin segregation patterns in radial direction show…
The distribution of heavy elements is anomalously low in the asteroid main belt region compared with elsewhere in the solar system. Observational surveys also indicate a deficit in the number of small ($ \le 50$~km size) asteroids that is…
The explosion of high-precision astrometric data on main-belt asteroids (MBAs) enables new inferences on gravitational and non-gravitational forces present in this region. We estimate the size of MBA motions caused by mutual gravitational…
In the last decade, thanks to the development of sophisticated numerical codes, major breakthroughs have been achieved in our understanding of the formation of asteroid families by catastrophic disruption of large parent bodies. In this…
In this work, we construct a new model for the collisional evolution of the main asteroid belt. Our goals are to test the scaling law of Benz and Asphaug (1999) and ascertain if it can be used for the whole belt. We want to find initial…
Inspired by the theoretical prediction [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3423 (2001)] and the disputed experimental results [Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 189601(2002), Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 014302 (2003)], we systematically investigate the pattern of binary…
Photometric observations of asteroids show that some of them are in non-principal axis rotation state (free precession), called tumbling. Collisions between asteroids have been proposed as a possible asteroid rotation excitation mechanism.…
We study the dynamical and collisional evolution of Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) in Main Belt-crossing orbits (NEACs). We select NEACs with H < 18 and integrate their orbits for 1e7 yr with N-body simulations. Objects are grouped by initial…
The rotational distribution of asteroids as a function of their size is used {as a diagnostic of} their physical properties and evolution. Recent photometric surveys from the Gaia mission, allowing observation of asteroids with long spin…
The overall shape, internal structure and surface morphology of small bodies such as asteroids and comets are determined to a large degree by the last global-scale impact or disruption event. Depending on the specific energy, impacts lead…
The asteroid belt is characterized by an extreme low total mass of material on dynamically excited orbits. The Nice Model explains many peculiar qualities of the solar system, including the belt's excited state, by invoking an orbital…
It is known, from observational data recorded from airbursts, that small asteroids breakup at dynamical pressures lower than their mechanical strength. This means that actual theoretical models are inconsistent with observations. In this…
From Jan. 6, 2019 to Feb. 18, 2019, OSIRIS-REx observed asteroid (101955) Bennu ejecting 11 plumes of dust, of which part is escaping and another part is re-captured by the asteroid. The relative magnitudes of the typical forces acting on…