Aero-resonant migration

Abstract

The process of planet conglomeration, which primarily unfolds in a geometrically thin disc of gas and dust, is often accompanied by dynamical excitation of the forming planets and planetesimals. The ensuing orbital crossing can lead to large-scale collisional fragmentation, populating the system with icy and rocky debris. In a gaseous nebula, such leftover solid matter tends to spiral down towards the host star due to aerodynamic drag. Along the way, the inward drifting debris can encounter planets and gravitationally couple to them via mean-motion resonances, sapping them of their orbital energy and causing them to migrate. Here, we develop a simple theory for this migration mechanism, which we call 'aero-resonant migration' (ARM), in which small planetesimals (10 m ≲ s ≲ 10 km) undergo orbital decay due to aerodynamic drag and resonantly shepherd planets ahead of them. Using a combination of analytical calculations and numerical experiments, we show that ARM is a robust migration mechanism, able to significantly transport planets on time-scales ≲1 Myr, and present simple formulae for the ARM rate.

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