Giant Planets Can Act as Stabilizing Agents on Debris Disks

We have explored the evolution of a cold debris disk under the gravitational influence of dwarf-planet-sized objects (DPs), both in the presence and absence of an interior giant planet. Through detailed long-term numerical simulations, we demonstrate that when the giant planet is not present, DPs ca...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Muñoz-Gutiérrez, M. A. [UNESP], Pichardo, B., Peimbert, A.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unesp.br:11449/169935
Acceso en línea:http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aa74ba
http://hdl.handle.net/11449/169935
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:methods: numerical
planet-disk interactions
protoplanetary disks
Descripción
Sumario:We have explored the evolution of a cold debris disk under the gravitational influence of dwarf-planet-sized objects (DPs), both in the presence and absence of an interior giant planet. Through detailed long-term numerical simulations, we demonstrate that when the giant planet is not present, DPs can stir the eccentricities and inclinations of disk particles, in linear proportion to the total mass of the DPs; on the other hand, when the giant planet is included in the simulations, the stirring is approximately proportional to the mass squared. This creates two regimes: below a disk mass threshold (defined by the total mass of DPs), the giant planet acts as a stabilizing agent of the orbits of cometary nuclei, diminishing the effect of the scatterers; above the threshold, the giant contributes to the dispersion of the particles.