Signposts of Planetary Systems around Evolved Stars: A New Perspective on Extrasolar Planets

这是一个研究围绕白色矮星运行的小行星带和碎片盘的奖项，以便更好地了解行星系统的一般性质。白色矮星是低质量星星生命结束时产生的非常致密的恒星残余物，主要由电子简并物质组成。任何围绕白色矮星运行的碎片盘或行星系统都被认为是从围绕祖先星星形成的早期盘中幸存下来的。 现有的理论理解将被应用到这些新的独特的情况下，以了解更多关于行星系统周围的演化中等质量恒星的属性。PI和他的团队将模拟碎片盘内小行星体的碎裂和破坏，并将得出预测的观测特征，这些特征可以与白色矮星碎片盘的现有观测结果进行比较。 PI将培训和指导一名研究生进行研究，让本科生参与研究，并为公众制作电影，说明围绕白色矮星的行星的物理学，将建立围绕白色矮星的气体和固体碎片盘演化的全球随时间变化的模型，并与观测结果进行比较。 该团队还将探索金属气体盘中偏心扭曲的起源，以及金属气体在固体颗粒上的冷凝。 他们还将探索电磁效应对磁盘演化的可能作用。

This is an award to study asteroid belts and debris disks orbiting white dwarfs in order to better understand the general nature of planetary systems. White dwarfs are very dense stellar remnants produced at the end of a low-mass star's life, and composed mainly of electron-degenerate matter. Any debris disk or planetary system orbiting a white dwarf is thought to have survived from an earlier disk that formed around the progenitor star. Existing theoretical understanding will be applied to these new unique circumstances to learn more about the properties of planetary systems around evolved intermediate-mass stars. The PI and his team will model the fragmentation and destruction of asteroid bodies within the debris disks, and will derive predicted observational signatures that can be compared to existing observations of white dwarf debris disks. The PI will train and mentor a graduate student in research, involve undergraduate students in research, and develop movies for the general public illustrating the physics of planets around white dwarfs.Global time-dependent models for the evolution of both gaseous and solid debris disks around white dwarfs will be developed and compared with observations. The team will also explore the origin of eccentric distortions in the disks of metallic gas, and the condensation of metallic gas onto the solid particles. They will also explore possible role of electromagnetic effects on the disk evolution.