Genesis of the Super-Earths

超级地球的起源

• 批准号: 1411954
• 负责人: Eugene Chiang
• 金额: $ 39.7万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-01 至 2019-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1411954&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Genesis; Super; Earths

This project aims to improve theoretical models of origins of a new class of planets, known as the Super-Earths. These objects have a radius that is between 1-5 times that of the Earth, and although no Super-Earths reside in our solar system, they may be commonly found orbiting other solar-type stars. The main goal is to find out whether close-in Super-Earth planets can form at the locations they are currently observed (closer than the Earth is to our Sun), or whether they must have formed further out and then moved in closer due to gravitational effects of other objects in the planetary systems. The PI and his team will develop and constrain models of Super-Earth formation using calculations and numerical integration techniques along with planetary measurements obtained from Kepler spacecraft data. They will train and mentor two graduate students and two postdoctoral researchers in physics, planetary science and code development. Two graduate students (including one member of an underrepresented group) will be trained and mentored in astrophysics and geophysics research. The group will use a variety of techniques to address the larger problem of how Super-Earths form. Coagulation histories of Super-Earth rock/metal cores will be calculated using the ?three-groups? approximation, and core-accretion of gas from the surrounding planetary nebula will be modeled by numerical integration of the time-dependent equations of stellar structure. The team will also study how the planetary envelopes undergo photoevaporative erosion using photoionization and hydrodynamic codes. Multiplicity statistics of Super-Earths will be addressed via N-body integrations that will be used to assess how exterior Jupiter-mass gas giants might dynamically stir close-in planets and cause them to merge.

该项目旨在改进被称为超级地球的一类新行星起源的理论模型。 这些天体的半径是地球的1-5倍，虽然我们的太阳系中没有超级地球，但它们可能经常绕着其他太阳系恒星运行。 其主要目标是找出近距离的超级地球行星是否可以在它们目前观察到的位置形成（比地球离太阳更近），或者它们是否必须在更远的地方形成，然后由于行星系统中其他物体的引力效应而移动到更近的地方。 PI和他的团队将使用计算和数值积分技术沿着从开普勒航天器数据中获得的行星测量数据来开发和约束超级地球形成的模型。 他们将培训和指导两名研究生和两名博士后研究人员在物理学，行星科学和代码开发。两名研究生（包括一名代表人数不足的成员）将接受天体物理学和地球物理学研究方面的培训和指导。该小组将使用各种技术来解决超级地球如何形成的更大问题。 超地球岩石/金属芯的凝固历史将使用？三组？近似，和核心的气体从周围的行星状星云吸积将模拟恒星结构的时间相关方程的数值积分。该团队还将研究行星信封如何使用光电离和流体动力学代码进行光蒸发侵蚀。超级地球的多重性统计将通过N体积分来解决，这些积分将用于评估外部的气体巨星如何动态地搅动靠近的行星并使它们合并。