Early Dynamical Instabilities in Extrasolar Planetary Systems

来自加州理工学院的一个研究小组将为在附近恒星周围发现的最常见的行星的形成和早期演化建立一个完整的图像。在过去的二十年里，调查表明，整个银河系的行星形成是有效的。最常见的行星形成模式似乎是产生比地球大几倍的行星，轨道周期小于一年。科学家们进一步证明，太阳系外的行星系统在它们的轨道和质量上呈现出一种统一的模式。该项目将为这些行星的形成和早期演化建立一个模型。该项目将涉及公众参与、研究生培训以及与当地高中教师和学生的合作。拟议的研究计划将量化动力不稳定性驱动的超级地球早期演化，着眼于确定散射机制，模拟物理后果，并编制相关的观测预测。首先，这项工作的执行将回答亚木星行星的轨道不稳定性是如何以解释其周期比分布所需的比例被激活的基本问题。其次，研究人员将确定不稳定驱动的雕刻是否能满足现有的观测约束。研究人员将确定潮汐耗散和行星与剩余碎片的相互作用如何塑造亚木星系外行星系统的当前结构。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A team from the California Institute of Technology will build a full picture for the formation and early evolution of the most commonly occurring planets found around nearby stars. Over the past two decades, surveys have shown that planet formation is efficient across the Galaxy. The most common mode of planet formation appears to generate planets a few times larger than Earth, with orbital periods smaller than one year. Scientists have further shown that systems of planets outside our Solar System exhibit a uniform pattern in their orbits and masses. The project will build a model for the formation and early evolution of these planets. The program will involve public engagement, training of graduate students, and collaborations with teachers and students from local high schools.The proposed research program will quantify the dynamical instability-driven early evolution of Super-Earths, with an eye towards identifying scattering mechanisms, modeling physical consequences, and compiling the associated observational predictions. First and foremost, the execution of this work will answer the fundamental question of how orbital instabilities among sub-Jovian planets are activated in the proportion needed to explain their period ratio distribution. Second, the investigators will determine whether or not instability-driven sculpting can satisfy existing observational constraints. The investigators will determine how tidal dissipation and interactions of planets with leftover debris shape the current architectures of sub-Jovian extrasolar planetary systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.