Related papers: Are Pebble Pile Planetesimals Doomed?
Planet formation may begin much earlier than previously expected, when the protoplanetary disk is still massive and gravitationally unstable. It has been proposed that solid grains can concentrate in the spiral arms of self-gravitating…
More than a decade of dedicated experimental work on the collisional physics of protoplanetary dust has brought us to a point at which the growth of dust aggregates can - for the first time - be self-consistently and reliably modelled. In…
If we want to understand planetesimal formation, the only data set we have is our own Solar System. It is particularly interesting as it is so far the only planetary system we know of that developed life. Understanding the conditions under…
Numerical simulations of pebble dynamics inside gas clumps formed by gravitational instability of protoplanetary discs are presented. We find that dust-mediated Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities transport pebbles inward rapidly via dense…
A loosely packed bed of sand sits precariously on the fence between mechanically stable and flowing states. This has especially strong implications for animals or vehicles needing to navigate sandy environments, which can sink and become…
It is difficult to imagine a planet formation model that does not at some stage include a gravitationally unstable disc. Initially unstable gas-dust discs may form planets directly, but the high surface density required has motivated the…
To study the evolution of protoplanetary dust aggregates, we performed experiments with up to 2600 collisions between single, highly-porous dust aggregates and a solid plate. The dust aggregates consisted of spherical SiO$_2$ grains with…
Axisymmetric dust rings are a ubiquitous feature of young protoplanetary disks. These rings are likely caused by pressure bumps in the gas profile; a small bump can induce a traffic jam-like pattern in the dust density, while a large bump…
The streaming instability is a mechanism whereby pebble-sized particles in protoplanetary discs spontaneously come together in dense filaments, which collapse gravitationally to form planetesimals upon reaching the Roche density. The extent…
The inner-most regions of circumbinary discs are unstable to a parametric instability whose non-linear evolution is hydrodynamical turbulence. This results in significant particle stirring, impacting on planetary growth processes such as…
Planet-forming discs in sufficiently strong UV environments lose gas in external photoevaporative winds. Dust can also be entrained within these winds, which has consequences for the possible solids reservoir for planet formation, and…
Dust particles sediment toward the midplanes of protoplanetary disks, forming dust-rich sublayers encased in gas. What densities must the particle sublayer attain before it can fragment by self-gravity? We describe various candidate…
This paper identifies constraints on the growth of a small planetary core (0.3 M$_{\oplus}$) that accretes millimeter-sized pebbles from a gaseous disk. We construct time-dependent spherical envelope models that capture physical processes…
Observations of protoplanetary discs have revealed dust rings which are likely due to the presence of pressure bumps in the disc. Because these structures tend to trap drifting pebbles, it has been proposed that pressure bumps may play an…
The discovery of numerous debris disks around white dwarfs (WDs), gave rise to extensive study of such disks and their role in polluting WDs, but the formation and evolution of these disks is not yet well understood. Here we study the role…
Radio images of protoplanetary disks demonstrate that dust grains tend to organize themselves into rings. These rings may be a consequence of dust trapping within gas pressure maxima wherein the local high dust-to-gas ratio is expected to…
A planetary system can undergo multiple episodes of intense dynamical activities throughout its life, resulting in the production of star-grazing planetesimals (or exocomets) and pollution of the host star. Such activity is especially…
Eccentric gaseous discs are unstable to a parametric instability involving the resonant interaction between inertial-gravity waves and the eccentric mode in the disc. We present 3D global hydrodynamical simulations of inviscid circumbinary…
The dusty regolith covering the surfaces of asteroids and planetary satellites differs in size, shape, and composition from terrestrial soil particles and is subject to very different environmental conditions. Experimental studies of the…
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…