Related papers: Long-term stability and dynamical spacing of compa…
We summarize the analytic model and numerical simulations of stochastically forced planets in a turbulent disk presented in a recent paper by Rein and Papaloizou. We identify two modes of libration in systems with planets in mean motion…
Radial velocity searches for exoplanets have detected many multi-planet systems around nearby bright stars. An advantage of this technique is that it generally samples the orbit outside of inferior/superior conjunction, potentially allowing…
(Abridged) In planetary systems with two or more giant planets, dynamical instabilities can lead to collisions or ejections through strong planet--planet scattering. Previous studies for simple initial configurations with two equal-mass…
The majority of stars form in star clusters and many are thought to have planetary companions. We demonstrate that multi-planet systems are prone to instabilities as a result of frequent stellar encounters in these star clusters much more…
Mean motion commensurabilities in multi-planet systems are an expected outcome of protoplanetary disk-driven migration, and their relative dearth in the observational data presents an important challenge to current models of planet…
We report on the long-term dynamical evolution of the two-planet Kepler-36 system, which we studied through numerical integrations of initial conditions that are consistent with observations of the system. The orbits are chaotic with a…
A restricted planar circular three-body system, consisting of the Sun and two planets, is studied as a simple model for a planetary system. The mass of the inner planet is considered to be larger and the system is assumed to be moving in a…
Large dips in the brightness for a number of stars have been observed, for which the tentative explanation is occultation of the star by a transiting circumplanetary disk or ring system. In order for the circumplanetary disk/rings to block…
Ultra-short period planets provide a window into the inner edge of the parameter space occupied by planetary orbits. In one particularly intriguing class of multi-planet systems, the ultra-short period planet is flanked by short-period…
With improvements in exoplanet detection techniques, the number of multiple planet systems discovered is increasing, while the detection of potentially habitable Earth-mass planets remains complicated and thus requires new search…
Orbital resonances are ubiquitous in the Solar system. They play a decisive role in the long term dynamics, and in some cases the physical evolution, of the planets and of their natural satellites, as well as the evolution of small bodies…
The Kepler mission has recently discovered a number of exoplanetary systems, such as Kepler-11 and Kepler-32, in which ensembles of several planets are found in very closely packed orbits (often within a few percent of an AU of one…
Observations of exoplanets have revealed that systems with planets on closely-spaced orbits are common, which motivates the question "How closely can planets orbit to one another and still be dynamically-stable for very long times?". To…
We considered the problem of stability for planets of finite mass in binary star systems. We selected a huge set of initial conditions for planetary orbits of the S-type, to perform high precision and very extended in time integrations. For…
We investigate the orbital dynamics of four-planet systems consisting of Earth-mass planets on initially-circular, coplanar orbits around a star of one solar mass. In our simulations, the innermost planet's semimajor axis is set at 1 AU,…
Asteroid material is detected in white dwarfs (WDs) as atmospheric pollution by metals, in the form of gas/dust discs, or in photometric transits. Within the current paradigm, minor bodies need to be scattered, most likely by planets, into…
Most multi-planetary systems are characterized by hot-Jupiters close to their central star, moving on eccentric orbits. From a dynamical point of view, compact multi-planetary systems form a specific class of the general N-body problem…
Motivated by the population of multi-planet systems with orbital period ratios 1<P2/P1<2, we study the long-term stability of packed two planet systems. The Hamiltonian for two massive planets on nearly circular and nearly coplanar orbits…
We derive a semi-analytic criterion for the presence of chaos in compact, eccentric multiplanet systems. Beyond a minimum semimajor-axis separation, below which the dynamics are chaotic at all eccentricities, we show that (i) the onset of…
Massive planets form within the lifetime of protoplanetary disks and undergo orbital migration due to planet-disk interactions. When the first planet reaches the inner edge of the disk its migration stops and the second planet is locked in…