No Arabic abstract
The discovery of close orbiting extrasolar giant planets led to extensive studies of disk planet interactions and the forms of migration that can result as a means of accounting for their location. Early work established the type I and type II migration regimes for low mass embedded planets and high mass gap forming planets respectively. While providing an attractive means of accounting for close orbiting planets intially formed at several AU, inward migration times for objects in the earth mass range were found to be disturbingly short, making the survival of giant planet cores an issue. Recent progress in this area has come from the application of modern numerical techniques which make use of up to date supercomputer resources. These have enabled higher resolution studies of the regions close to the planet and the initiation of studies of planets interacting with disks undergoing MHD turbulence. This work has led to indications of how the inward migration of low to intermediate mass planets could be slowed down or reversed. In addition, the possibility of a new very fast type III migration regime, that can be directed inwards or outwards, that is relevant to partial gap forming planets in massive disks has been investigated.
In this article we present results from three on-going projects related to the formation of protoplanets in protostellar discs. We present the results of simulations that model the interaction between embedded protoplanets and disc models undergoing MHD turbulence. We review the similarities and differences that arise when the disc is turbulent as opposed to laminar (but viscous), and present the first results of simulations that examine the tidal interaction between low mass protoplanets and turbulent discs. We describe the results of simulations of Jovian mass protoplanets forming in circumbinary discs, and discuss the range of possible outcomes that arise in hydrodynamic simulations. Finally, we report on some preliminary simulations of three protoplanets of Jovian mass that form approximately coevally within a protostellar disc. We describe the conditions under which such a system can form a stable three planet resonance.
We have investigated i) the formation of gravitationally bounded pairs of gas-giant planets (which we call binary planets) from capturing each other through planet-planet dynamical tide during their close encounters and ii) the following long-term orbital evolution due to planet-planet and planet-star {it quasi-static} tides. For the initial evolution in phase i), we carried out N-body simulations of the systems consisting of three jupiter-mass planets taking into account the dynamical tide. The formation rate of the binary planets is as much as 10% of the systems that undergo orbital crossing and this fraction is almost independent of the initial stellarcentric semi-major axes of the planets, while ejection and merging rates sensitively depend on the semi-major axes. As a result of circularization by the planet-planet dynamical tide, typical binary separations are a few times the sum of the physical radii of the planets. After the orbital circularization, the evolution of the binary system is governed by long-term quasi-static tide. We analytically calculated the quasi-static tidal evolution in later phase ii). The binary planets first enter the spin-orbit synchronous state by the planet-planet tide. The planet-star tide removes angular momentum of the binary motion, eventually resulting in a collision between the planets. However, we found that the binary planets survive the tidal decay for main-sequence life time of solar-type stars (~10Gyrs), if the binary planets are beyond ~0.3 AU from the central stars. These results suggest that the binary planets can be detected by transit observations at >0.3AU.
We present high-spatial resolution HST and adaptive optics observations, and high-sensitivity ISO (ISOCAM & ISOPHOT) observations of a sample of X-ray selected weak-line (WTTS) and post (PTTS) T Tauri stars located in the nearby Chamaeleon T and Scorpius-Centaurus OB associations. HST/NICMOS and adaptive optics observations aimed at identifying substellar companions at separations >=30 A.U. from the primary stars. No such objects were found within 300 A.U. of any of the target stars, and a number of faint objects at larger separations can very likely be attributed to a population of background stars. ISOCAM observations of 5 to 15 Myr old WTTS and PTTS in ScoCen reveal infrared excesses which are clearly above photospheric levels, and which have a spectral index intermediate between that of younger (1 to 5 Myr) T Tauri stars in Cha and that of pure stellar photospheres. The difference in the spectral index of the older PTTS in ScoCen compared to the younger classical and WTTS in Cha can be attributed to a deficiency of smaller size (0.1 to 1mu) dust grains relative to larger size (~5mu) dust grains in the disks of the PTTS. The lack of small dust grains is either due to the environment (effect of nearby O stars and supernova explosions) or due to disk evolution. If the latter is the case, it would hint that circumstellar disks start to get dust depleted at an age between 5 to 15 Myr. Dust depletion is very likely related to the build-up of larger particles (ultimately rocks and planetesimals) and thus an indicator for the onset of the period of planet formation.
The planetary building blocks that formed in the terrestrial planet region were likely very dry, yet water is comparatively abundant on Earth. We review the various mechanisms proposed for the origin of water on the terrestrial planets. Various in-situ mechanisms have been suggested, which allow for the incorporation of water into the local planetesimals in the terrestrial planet region or into the planets themselves from local sources, although all of those mechanisms have difficulties. Comets have also been proposed as a source, although there may be problems fitting isotopic constraints, and the delivery efficiency is very low, such that it may be difficult to deliver even a single Earth ocean of water this way. The most promising route for water delivery is the accretion of material from beyond the snow line, similar to carbonaceous chondrites, that is scattered into the terrestrial planet region as the planets are growing. Two main scenarios are discussed in detail. First is the classical scenario in which the giant planets begin roughly in their final locations and the disk of planetesimals and embryos in the terrestrial planet region extends all the way into the outer asteroid belt region. Second is the Grand Tack scenario, where early inward and outward migration of the giant planets implants material from beyond the snow line into the asteroid belt and terrestrial planet region, where it can be accreted by the growing planets. Sufficient water is delivered to the terrestrial planets in both scenarios. While the Grand Tack scenario provides a better fit to most constraints, namely the small mass of Mars, planets may form too fast in the nominal case discussed here. This discrepancy may be reduced as a wider range of initial conditions is explored. Finally, we discuss several more recent models that may have important implications for water delivery to the terrestrial planets.
Our galaxy is full with planets. We now know that planets and planetary systems are diverse and come with different sizes, masses and compositions, as well as various orbital architectures. Although there has been great progress in understanding planet formation in the last couple of decades, both observationally and theoretically, several fundamental questions remain unsolved. This might not be surprising given the complexity of the process that includes various physical and chemical processes, and spans huge ranges of length-scales, masses, and timescales. In addition, planet formation cannot be directly observed but has to be inferred by gluing together different pieces of information into one consistent picture. How do planets form? remains a fundamental question in modern astrophysics. In this review we list some of the key open questions in planet formation theory as well as the challenges and upcoming opportunities.