Related papers: Numerical Simulations of Saturn's B Ring: Granular…
We investigate the influence of collective self-gravity forces on the nonlinear, large-scale evolution of the viscous overstability in Saturn's rings. We numerically solve the axisymmetric hydrodynamic equations in the isothermal and…
We investigate the formation of spatial structure in dense, self-gravitating particle systems such as Saturn's B-ring through local $N$-body simulations to clarify the intrinsic physics based on individual particle motion. In such a system,…
We perform axisymmetric hydrodynamical simulations that describe the nonlinear outcome of the viscous overstability in dense planetary rings. These simulations are particularly relevant for Cassini observations of fine-scale structure in…
We present results from large-scale particle simulations of the viscous overstability in Saturn's rings. The overstability generates a variety of structure on scales covering a few hundred metres to several kilometres, including…
Linear theory is used to determine the stability of the self-gravitating, rapidly (and nonuniformly) rotating, two-dimensional, and collisional particulate disk against small-amplitude gravity perturbations. A gas-kinetic theory approach is…
We investigate the linear axisymmetric viscous overstability in dense planetary rings with typical values of the dynamical optical depth $\tau\gtrsim 0.5$. We develop a granular flow model which accounts for the particulate nature of a…
Saturn's rings are composed of icy grains, most in the mm to m size ranges, undergoing several collisions per orbit. Their collective behaviour generates a remarkable array of structure over many orders of magnitude, much of it not well…
This paper addresses the fine-scale axisymmetric structure exhibited in Saturn's A and B-rings. We aim to explain both the periodic microstructure on 150-220m, revealed by the Cassini UVIS and RSS instruments, and the irregular variations…
(Abridged) The following describes a model of a broad planetary ring whose sharp edge is confined by a satellite's m^th Lindblad resonance (LR). This model uses a streamline formalism to calculate the ring's internal forces, namely, ring…
This paper examines the onset of the viscous overstability in dense particulate rings. First, we formulate a dense gas kinetic theory that is applicable to the Saturnian system. Our model is essentially that of Araki and Tremaine (1986),…
Observations by the Voyager and Cassini spacecrafts have revealed various striking features of the gap structure in Saturn's ring, such as the density waves, sharp edge, and vertical wall structure. In order to explain these features in a…
This paper addresses resonantly forced spiral density waves in a dense planetary ring which is close to the threshold for viscous overstability. We solve numerically the hydrodynamical equations for a dense, axisymmetric thin disk in the…
We have developed a semi-analytic method of parameterizing N-body simulations of self-gravity wakes in Saturn's rings, describing their properties by means of only 6 numbers: 3 optical depths and 3 weighting factors. These numbers are…
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…
We suggest that the irregular structure in Saturn's B ring arises from the formation of shear-free ring-particle assemblies of up to ~100 km in radial extent. The characteristic scale of the irregular structure is set by the competition…
To explore the formation and properties of Saturn's G ring, we study the dynamics of micron-sized dust particles originating from the arc of debris near the inner edge of the ring. The dynamical evolution of particles due to various…
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…
The satellite Mimas launches a bending wave -- a warping of the rings that propagates radially through self-gravity -- at the 5:3 inner vertical resonance with Saturn's rings. We present a modification of the linear bending wave theory…
A new symplectic N-body integrator is introduced, one designed to calculate the global 360 degree evolution of a self-gravitating planetary ring that is in orbit about an oblate planet. This freely-available code is called epi_int, and it…
Saturn's B ring is the most opaque ring in our solar system, but many of its fundamental parameters, including its total mass, are not well constrained. Spiral density waves generated by mean-motion resonances with Saturn's moons provide…