Multi-planetary systems, Saturn's Rings and the new collisional N-body code REBOUND
Hanno Rein
IAS Princeton
The increasing number of discovered extra-solar planets opens a new
opportunity for studying the formation of planetary systems. Resonant
systems are of particular interest because their dynamical configuration
provides very strong constraints on the otherwise unobservable phase of
formation and migration. I will illustrate the main effects of planetary
migration in multi-planetary systems by discussing several examples from
past and ongoing studies.
By observing a specific resonance in a planetary system, one can constrain
the properties of the proto-planetary disc. Close, first order resonances
require a fast migration speed for capture, which can be attributed to a
massive disc. Furthermore, proto-planets are exposed to stochastic forces,
generated by density fluctuations in the proto-planetary disc. Systems
with massive planets are usually stable. However, systems with smaller
planets such as Super-Earths, similar to those that have been discovered
by the Kepler spacecraft, can get easily disrupted.
Interestingly, these systems are dynamically very similar to Saturn's
rings. The stochastic migration of small bodies in Saturn's rings
can be described using the same equations. I will show new results
from our current work with direct N-body simulations which aim to be
directly comparable to the observations of moonlets that show signs of
non-Keplerian motion.
In the last part of the talk will be devoted to advertising a new freely
available collisional N-body code, REBOUND. All of the numerical work
presented in this talk has been performed with REBOUND. I will show how
you can easily reproduce these calculations yourself.
Date: | Tuesday, 29 November 2011 |
Time: | 16:00 |
Where: | McGill University |
| Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, R.E. Bell Conference Room (room 103) |
Contact: | Robert Rutledge |
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