Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.5802y&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #58.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.503
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Recent numerical simulations by Johansen et al. (2007, Nature) demonstrate that large ( 1000 km-sized) planetesimals can form by the gravitational collapse of many meter-sized boulders. These expensive simulations couple the turbulent magnetohydrodynamic gas to the self-gravitating, N-body evolution of particles. This talk explores how we can use analytic theories to understand these results. The goal is to extrapolate to regions of parameter space which are cosmogonically interesting, but too costly to simulate. Notably, starting with mm-sized chondrules could require unreasonably long simulations approaching a Myr. Towards this end, I present a refined theory for the gravitational collapse of solids subject to gas drag. This model includes a more detailed treatment of stirring by turbulent gas. I will explain why this (still simplistic) model gives more pessimistic results than the simulations. The answer lies in the paradox that turbulence can be both harmful and helpful for the formation of planetesimals, which has been a stumbling block for decades.
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