Other
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.2109p&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #21.09; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.424
Other
Scientific paper
We present progress on our study of planetary ring dynamics. We use local N-body simulations to examine small patches of dense rings in which self-gravity and mutual collisions dominate the dynamics of the ring material. We use the numerical code pkdgrav to model the motions of 105-7 ring particles, using a sliding patch model with modified periodic boundary conditions.
The exact nature of planetary ring particles is not well understood. If covered in a frost-like layer, such irregular surfaces may allow for weak cohesion between colliding particles. Thus we have recently added new functionality to our model, allowing "sticky particles” to lock into rigid aggregates while in a rotating reference frame. This capability allows particles to adhere to one another, forming irregularly shaped aggregates that move as rigid bodies. (The bonds between particles can subsequently break, given sufficient stress.) These aggregates have greater strength than gravitationally bound "rubble piles,” and are thus able to grow larger and survive longer under similar stresses.
This new functionality allows us to explore planetary ring properties and dynamics in a new way, by self-consistently forming (and destroying) non-spherical aggregates and moonlets via cohesive forces, while in a rotating frame, subjected to planetary tides. (We are not aware of any similar implementations in other existing models.)
These improvements allow us to study the many effects that particle aggregation may have on the rings, such as overall ring structure; wake formation; equilibrium properties of non-spherical particles, like pitch angle, orientation, shape, size distribution, and spin; and the surface properties of the ring material.
We present test cases and the latest results from this new model.
This work is supported by a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship.
Perrine Randall P.
Richardson Chris D.
Scheeres Daniel J.
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