Related papers: Decoding planetary surfaces by counting cracks
The geometry and connectivity of fractures exert a strong influence on the flow and transport properties of fracture networks. We present a novel approach to stochastically generate three-dimensional discrete networks of connected fractures…
Starch-water slurries are commonly used to study fracture dynamics. Drying starch-cakes benefit from being simple, economical, and reproducible systems, and have been used to model desiccation fracture in soils, thin film fracture in paint,…
The most accurate method for modelling planetary migration and hence the formation of resonant systems is using hydrodynamical simulations. Usually, the force (torque) acting on a planet is calculated using the forces from the gas disc and…
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…
Superficial (two dimensional) crack patterns appear when a thin layer of material elastically attached to a substrate contracts. We study numerically the maturation process undergone by these crack patterns when they are allowed to adapt in…
Cracks in concrete structures are very common and are an integral part of this heterogeneous material. Characteristics of cracks induced by standardized tests yield valuable information about the tested concrete formulation and its…
We study a theoretical model of mud cracks, that is, the fracture patterns resulting from the contraction with drying in a thin layer of a mixture of granules and water. In this model, we consider the slip on the bottom of this layer and…
Terrestrial planets within the Venus zone surrounding M dwarf stars can retain surface ice caps on the perpetual dark side if atmospheric heat transport is inefficient, {as suggested by previous global climate simulations…
Mercury's crust has a complex structure resulting from a billion years of volcanism. The surface variations in chemical composition have been identified from orbit by the spacecraft MESSENGER. Combining these measurements with laboratory…
Structures observed in debris disks may be caused by gravitational interaction with planetary or stellar companions. These perturbed disks are often thought to indicate the presence of planets and offer insights into the properties of both…
Small high-speed impact craters formed in rocks, ice, and other brittle materials consist of an outer, broad shallow concentric region formed by tensile fracture (spall), surrounding a smaller central "pit" crater of greater depth. On the…
Unmixing the disk-integrated spectra of exoplanets provides hints about heterogeneous surfaces that we cannot directly resolve in the foreseeable future. It is particularly important for terrestrial planets with diverse surface compositions…
Hierarchical crack patterns that arise during the drying of thin films of colloidal dispersions or polymer solutions on a solid substrate are of interest both from a fundamental standpoint and in the context of the creation of transparent…
Future telescopes will characterize rocky exoplanets in reflected light, revealing their albedo, which depends on surface, cloud, and atmospheric properties. Identifying these features is crucial for assessing habitability. We present…
Imaging of planets is very difficult, due to the glare from their nearby, much brighter suns. Static and slowly-evolving aberrations are the limiting factors, even after application of adaptive optics. The residual speckle pattern is highly…
We examine geophysical crack patterns using the mean field theory of convex mosaics. We assign the pair $(\bar n^*,\bar v^*)$ of average corner degrees to each crack pattern and we define two local, random evolutionary steps $R_0$ and…
The known extrasolar multiple-planet systems share a surprising dynamical attribute: they cluster just beyond the Hill stability boundary. Here we show that the planet-planet scattering model, which naturally explains the observed exoplanet…
The cosmic web structure is studied with the concepts and methods of fractal geometry, employing the adhesion model of cosmological dynamics as a basic reference. The structures of matter clusters and cosmic voids in cosmological N-body…
We investigated 634 crater clusters on Mars detected between 2007 and 2021, which represent more than half of all impacts discovered in this period. Crater clusters form when meteoroids in the 10 kg to 10 ton mass range break-up in Mars'…
Basins generated by a noninvertible mapping formed by two symmetrically coupled logistic maps are studied when the only parameter \lambda of the system is modified. Complex patterns on the plane are visualised as a consequence of basins'…