Chaotic Processes in Planet Migration and Orbital Evolution – Fred Adams
Date: Tue. November 8th, 2005, 11:30 am-12:30 pmLocation: Rockefeller 221
Nearly 150 extrasolar planets have been discovered to date, and their observed orbits display an unexpected diversity. This talk considers a collection of processes for planet migration and orbital evolution, including those operating on a range of time scales. In particular, we consider planet-planet scattering, the action of disk torques, scattering of solar systems with passing binary star systems, and the long term evolution of planetary systems. The result of this survey of processes provides a explanation for the orbital elements of observed planetary systems, places constraints on the birth aggregate of our solar system, and determines the fraction of binary star systems that allow for the long term stability of an Earth-like planet.