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The stellar mass dependence of the unbiased giant planet occurrence rate may be the best statistical tool to constrain the formation of such planets. This rate rises and falls as a function of stellar mass, peaking around stars of $\sim…
Planetary bodies form by accretion of smaller bodies. It has been suggested that a very efficient way to grow protoplanets is by accreting particles of size <<km (e.g., chondrules, boulders, or fragments of larger bodies) as they can be…
Planets are thought to form via accretion from a remnant disk of gas and solids around a newly formed star. During this process material in the disk either remains bound to the star as part of either a planet, a smaller celestial body, or…
This paper explores the intermediate-time dynamics of newly formed solar systems with a focus on possible mechanisms for planetary migration. We consider two limiting corners of the available parameter space -- crowded systems containing…
The discovery of protoplanets and circumplanetary disks provides a unique opportunity to characterize planet formation through observations. Massive protoplanets shape the physical and chemical structure of their host circumstellar disk by…
NASA's Kepler mission discovered $\sim700$ planets in multi-planet systems containing 3 or more transiting bodies, many of which are super-Earths and mini-Neptunes in compact configurations. Using $N$-body simulations, we examine the in…
It is reasonable to assume that the structure of a planet and the interior distribution of its components are determined by its formation history. We thus follow the growth of a planet from a small embryo through its subsequent evolution.…
The discovery of Jupiter-mass planets in close orbits about their parent stars has challenged models of planet formation. Recent observations have shown that a number of these planets have highly inclined, sometimes retrograde orbits about…
The solid material of protoplanetary discs forms an asymmetric pattern around a low-mass planet (M_p<=10M_Earth) due to the combined effect of dust-gas interaction and the gravitational attraction of the planet. Recently, it has been shown…
Nearly $15-20%$ of solar type stars contain one or more gas giant planet. According to the core-accretion scenario, the acquisition of their gaseous envelope must be preceded by the formation of super-critical cores with masses ten times or…
Gas giant planets are expected to accrete most of their mass via a circumplanetary disk. If the planet is unmagnetized and initially slowly rotating, it will accrete gas via a radially narrow boundary layer and rapidly spin up. Radial…
We have conducted three-dimensional self-gravitating radiation hydrodynamical models of gas accretion onto high mass cores (15-33 Earth masses) over hundreds of orbits. Of these models, one case accretes more than a third of a Jupiter mass…
Many dynamical aspects of the solar system can be explained by the outer planets experiencing a period of orbital instability sometimes called the Nice Model. Though often correlated with a perceived delayed spike in the lunar cratering…
We present N-body simulations of planetary system formation in thermally-evolving, viscous disc models. The simulations incorporate type I migration (including corotation torques and their saturation), gap formation, type II migration, gas…
Gas giant planets are far easier than terrestrial planets to detect around other stars, and are thought to form much more quickly than terrestrial planets. Thus, in systems with giant planets, the late stages of terrestrial planet formation…
Modeling the formation of the ice giants Uranus and Neptune is a long-lasting problem in planetary science. Due to gas-drag, collisional damping, and resonant shepherding, the planetary embryos repel the planetesimals away from their reach…
Millimeter sized dust grains experience radial velocities exceeding the gas velocities by orders of magnitude. The viscous evolution of the accretion disk adds disk material onto the central star's convective envelope, influencing its…
Immediately after their formation, the terrestrial planets experienced intense impact bombardment by comets, leftover planetesimals from primary accretion, and asteroids. This temporal interval in solar system evolution, termed late…
We predict the carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratios in the hydrogen-helium envelope and atmospheres of a sample of nearly 50 relatively cool ($T_{\mathrm eq}<$ 1000 K) transiting gas giant planets. The method involves planetary envelope…
In the core accretion scenario of planet formation, rocky cores grow by first accreting solids until they are massive enough to accrete gas. For giant planet formation this means that a massive core must form within the lifetime of the gas…