Physics
Scientific paper
Oct 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011epsc.conf.1631e&link_type=abstract
EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011, held 2-7 October 2011 in Nantes, France. http://meetings.copernicus.org/epsc-dps2011, p.1631
Physics
Scientific paper
UVIS occultation data show clumping in Saturn's F ring and at the B ring outer edge, indicating aggregation and disaggregation at these locations that are perturbed by Mimas and by Prometheus. Timescales range from hours to months. Structure near the B ring edge is seen in power spectral analysis at scales 200m - 2000m. We quantify this sub-km structure using wavelet analysis that estimates the statistical significance of the features. Similar structure is also seen at the strongest density waves, with significance increasing with resonance strength (FIGURE 1). For the B ring outer edge, the strongest structure is seen at longitudes 90° and 270° relative to Mimas. This indicates a direct relation between the moon and the ring clumping. We propose that the collective behavior of the ring particles resembles a predatorprey system: the mean aggregate size is the prey, which feeds the velocity dispersion; conversely, increasing dispersion breaks up the aggregates. Moons may trigger clumping by streamline crowding, which reduces the relative velocity, leading to more aggregation and more clumping. Disaggregation may follow from disruptive collisions or tidal shedding as the clumps stir the relative velocity. For realistic values of the parameters this yields a limit cycle behavior, as for the ecology of foxes and hares or the "boom-bust" economic cycle. Solving for the longterm behavior of this forced system gives a periodic response at the perturbing frequency, with a phase lag roughly consistent with the UVIS occultation measurements (FIGURE 2).
Albers Nicole
Colwell Joshua E.
Esposito W. L. W. L.
Jerousek R. E.
Madhusudhanan Prasanna
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