Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004phdt........37b&link_type=abstract
Ph.D dissertation, 2004. 107 pages; United States -- Washington: University of Washington; 2004. Publication Number: AAT 315158
Other
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Planetesimal Disk
Scientific paper
This dissertation describes simulations that represent the early growth of rocky bodies in our solar system. These bodies eventually grow to form the Earth and other terrestrial planets. Modern research posits that the solar system formed from a flat disk of gas and dust orbiting a nascent sun. A considerable amount of research now suggests that conditions existed in this disk for the rapid (<1000 yr) formation of small, rocky bodies (called planetesimals) with a radius of ~1 km. After this occurred the motions of the planetesimals were dictated solely by gravity. However, the large number of planetesimals expected to form in the terrestrial region is so large that previous investigations into this stage of growth have been limited to planetesimals with radii in excess of 100 km. This size difference corresponds to a factor of 10 6 in resolution.
In order to examine growth at this small scale, the disk is represented by several small patches. Utilizing small patches allows the motions of the whole disk to be mimicked by a much smaller number of particles, with negligible approximations. The simulations suggest that planetesimals coalesce into large, rapidly accreting bodies in less than 1000 years in the interior regions of the disk. Although the evolution in the interior of the disk has been successfully modeled, growth in the outer portions of the terrestrial zone (in the present day asteroid belt) occurs so slowly that the innovative techniques used here are still unable to model growth for even 100 orbits. This research therefore provides the first direct examination of the initial planetesimal disk.
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