Dynamical instabilities in the aid of planet formation in circumstellar disks

新墨西哥州立大学开展了一个为期三年的项目，将使用超级计算机模拟年轻主星周围形成的行星。行星形成路线图中的许多细节仍然是未知的。行星是由围绕年轻恒星运行的气体和尘埃盘形成的。这项研究将使用强大的计算机来模拟行星的形成，并将结果与现代观测结果进行比较。这项研究将能够决定哪种模型更有可能解释行星的形成。这个项目有一个教育组成部分，重点关注服务不足的西班牙裔青少年，目标是激励他们接受高等教育。该项目将建立一个科学营，在那里学生们学习推理技能和天文学知识。该项目计划惠及30%生活在拉斯克鲁塞斯贫困线以下的西班牙裔青少年。为了巩固成果，将提供一个为期三个月的课后讲座项目，到课程结束时，一些学生将与当地天文学家配对，进行暑期实习。拟议的工作将有可能解决长期存在的行星形成稳健性问题，特别是在太阳和亚太阳金属丰度的关键范围内，通过检查流体动力学和流不稳定性之间的潜在协同作用。这项工作将努力以以下形式产生可测试的预测：(1)亚毫米波长的行星形成流不稳定性的观测特征；(2)热发射和散射光的动力学不稳定性的观测表现；(3)散射光中漩涡的出现方式，这对目前使用SPHERE、GPI和SCExAO进行的观测有价值，对未来使用JWST进行的观测也有价值。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 three-year program conducted by New Mexico State University will simulate planets forming around young host stars using supercomputers. Many details in the roadmap of planet formation are still uncharted. Planets form out of disks of gas and dust that orbit young stars. This investigation will use powerful computers to produce simulations of planet formation and compare the results with modern observations. This research will be able to decide which models are more likely to account for planet formation. This project has an educational component focused on underserved Hispanic teenagers, with a goal is to inspire them to pursue higher education. The project will develop a science camp where students are taught reasoning skills and learn about astronomy. The project plans to reach 30% of all Hispanic teenagers living under the poverty line in Las Cruces. To consolidate gains, a three-month after-school program of lectures will be offered, by the end of which some students are paired with local astronomers for summer internships.The proposed work will potentially address the long-standing question of the robustness of planet formation, specifically in the crucial range of solar and sub-solar metallicity, by examining potential synergies between hydrodynamical and streaming instabilities. The work will strive to produce testable predictions in the form of (1) observational signatures of the planet-forming streaming instability in sub-mm wavelengths; (2) the observational appearance of dynamical instabilities in thermal emission and scattered light and (3) how vortices appear in scattered light, which is valuable to current surveys with SPHERE, GPI, and SCExAO, but also for future observations with JWST.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.