Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published September 22, 2004 | Published
Journal Article Open

Planet formation by coagulation: A focus on Uranus and Neptune

Abstract

Planets form in the circumstellar disks of young stars. We review the basic physical processes by which solid bodies accrete each other and alter each others' random velocities, and we provide order-of-magnitude derivations for the rates of these processes. We discuss and exercise the two-groups approximation, a simple yet powerful technique for solving the evolution equations for protoplanet growth. We describe orderly, runaway, neutral, and oligarchic growth. We also delineate die conditions under which each occurs. We refute a popular misconception by showing that the outer planets formed quickly by accreting small bodies. Then we address the final stages of planet formation. Oligarchy ends when the surface density of the oligarchs becomes comparable to that of the small bodies. Dynamical friction is no longer able to balance viscous stirring and the oligarchs' random velocities increase. In the inner-planet system, oligarchs collide and coalesce. In the outer-planet system, some of the oligarchs are ejected. In both the inner- and outer-planet systems, this stage ends once the number of big bodies has been reduced to the point that their mutual interactions no longer produce large-scale chaos. Subsequently, dynamical friction by the residual small bodies circularizes and flattens their orbits. The final stage of planet formation involves the clean up of the residual small bodies. Clean up has been poorly explored.

Additional Information

© 2004 Annual Reviews. First published online as a Review in Advance on June 2, 2004. We thank M. Brown, E. Chiang, L. Dones, M. Duncan, J. Goodman, S. Ida, S. Kenyon, E. Kokubo, J. Makino, N. Murray, R. Rafikov, D. Stevenson, E. Thommes, S. Tremaine, and A. Youdin for useful discussions. This research was supported in part by NSF grants AST-0098301 and PHY-0070928 and by NASA grant NAG5-12037.

Attached Files

Published - GOLaraa04.pdf

Files

GOLaraa04.pdf
Files (458.3 kB)
Name Size Download all
md5:d1d2b0b40755aa96c68c7ae2fbac5e58
458.3 kB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 13, 2023