Related papers: Mass transfer between debris discs during close st…
We investigate how a protoplanetary disc's susceptibility to gravitational instabilities and fragmentation depends on the mass of its host star. We use 1D disc models in conjunction with 3D SPH simulations to determine the critical…
Giant impacts refer to collisions between two objects each of which is massive enough to be considered at least a planetary embryo. The putative collision suffered by the proto-Earth that created the Moon is a prime example, though most…
We present a new, simple, fast algorithm to numerically evolve disks of inelastically colliding particles surrounding a central star. Our algorithm adds negligible computational cost to the fastest existing collisionless N-body codes, and…
A clear understanding of the chemical processing of matter, as it is transferred from a molecular cloud to a planetary system, depends heavily on knowledge of the physical conditions endured by gas and dust as these accrete onto a disk and…
It is expected that an average protostar will undergo at least one impulsive interaction with a neighbouring protostar whilst a large fraction of its mass is still in a massive, extended disc. If protostars are formed individually within a…
We present the first calculations of mass transfer via RLOF for a binary system with a significant eccentricity using our new binary stellar evolution code. The study focuses on a 1.50+1.40 Msun main sequence binary with an eccentricity of…
We present models for the formation of terrestrial planets, and the collisional evolution of debris disks, in planetary systems that contain multiple unstable gas giants. We previously showed that the dynamics of the giant planets…
We analyse N-body simulations of star-forming regions to investigate the effects of external far and extreme ultra-violet photoevaporation from massive stars on protoplanetary discs. By varying the initial conditions of simulated…
In some semi-detached binary systems, the donor star may transfer mass to the companion at a very high rate. We propose that, at sufficiently high mass-transfer rates such that the accretion disk around the companion becomes geometrically…
The amount, timing and ultimate location of mass transfer and induced star formation in galaxy collisions are sensitive functions of orbital and galaxy structural parameters. I discuss the role of detailed case studies and describe the…
Nearly-axisymmetric gaps and rings are commonly observed in protoplanetary discs. The leading theory regarding the origin of these patterns is that they are due to dust trapping at the edges of gas gaps induced by the gravitational torques…
Close stellar binaries are prone to undergo a phase of stable mass transfer in which a star loses mass to its companion. Assuming that the donor star loses mass along the instantaneous interstellar axis, we derive the orbit-averaged…
The mass distributions of dense cores in star-forming regions are measured to have a shape similar to the initial mass function of stars. This has been generally interpreted to mean that the constituent cores will form individual stars or…
(Abridged) We present global disc and local shearing box simulations of planets interacting with a MHD turbulent disc. We examine the torque exerted by the disc on the embedded planets as a function of planet mass, and thus make a first…
The analysis of the kinematics of solar neighbourhood stars shows that the low and high metallicity tails of the thin disc are populated by objects which orbital properties suggest an origin in the outer and inner galactic disc,…
During orbital migration of a giant extrasolar planet via ejection of planetesimals (Murray et al.~1998), inner mean motion resonances can be strong enough to cause planetesimals to graze or impact the star. We integrate numerically the…
Close interactions and mass transfer in binary stars can lead to the formation of many different exotic stellar populations, but detailed modeling of mass transfer is a computationally challenging problem. Here, we present an alternate…
Observations indicate that the dispersal of protoplanetary discs in star clusters occurs on time scales of about 5 Myr. Several processes are thought to be responsible for this disc dispersal. Here we compare two of these processes:…
In this work, two new axisymmetric models for the Galactic mass distribution are presented. Motivated by recent results, these two models include the contribution of a stellar thin disc and of a thick disc, as massive as the thin…
Debris belts on the periphery of planetary systems, encompassing the region occupied by planetary orbits, are massive analogues of the Solar system's Kuiper belt. They are detected by thermal emission of dust released in collisions amongst…