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PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) is ESA's M3 mission designed to detect and characterise extrasolar planets and perform asteroseismic monitoring of a large number of stars. PLATO will detect small planets (down to <2 R_(Earth)) around bright stars (<11 mag), including terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars. With the complement of radial velocity observations from the ground, planets will be characterised for their radius, mass, and age with high accuracy (5 %, 10 %, 10 % for an Earth-Sun combination respectively). PLATO will provide us with a large-scale catalogue of well-characterised small planets up to intermediate orbital periods, relevant for a meaningful comparison to planet formation theories and to better understand planet evolution. It will make possible comparative exoplanetology to place our Solar System planets in a broader context. In parallel, PLATO will study (host) stars using asteroseismology, allowing us to determine the stellar properties with high accuracy, substantially enhancing our knowledge of stellar structure and evolution. The payload instrument consists of 26 cameras with 12cm aperture each. For at least four years, the mission will perform high-precision photometric measurements. Here we review the science objectives, present PLATO's target samples and fields, provide an overview of expected core science performance as well as a description of the instrument and the mission profile at the beginning of the serial production of the flight cameras. PLATO is scheduled for a launch date end 2026. This overview therefore provides a summary of the mission to the community in preparation of the upcoming operational phases.

During the final stage of planetary formation, different formation pathways of planetary embryos could significantly influence the observed variations in planetary densities. Of the approximately 5,000 exoplanets identified to date, a notable subset exhibit core fractions reminiscent of Mercury, potentially a consequence of high-velocity giant impacts. In order to better understand the influence of such collisions on planetary formation and compositional evolution, we conducted an extensive set of smoothed particle hydrodynamics giant impact simulations between two-layered rocky bodies. These simulations spanned a broad range of impact velocities from one to eleven times the mutual escape velocity. We derived novel scaling laws that estimate the mass and core mass fraction of the largest post-collision remnants. Our findings indicate that the extent of core vaporization markedly influences mantle stripping efficiency at low impact angles. We delineate the distinct roles played by two mechanisms -- kinetic momentum transfer and vaporization-induced ejection -- in mantle stripping. Our research suggests that collisional outcomes for multi-layered planets are more complex than those for undifferentiated planetesimal impacts. Thus, a single universal law may not encompass all collision processes. We found a significant decrease in the mantle stripping efficiency as the impact angle increases. To form a 5 M$_{\oplus}$ super-Mercury at $45^{\circ}$, an impact velocity over 200 km s$^{-1}$ is required. This poses a challenge to the formation of super-Mercuries through a single giant impact, implying that their formation would either favor relatively low-angle single impacts or multiple, Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 18 pages, 17 figures

The optical properties of particulate-matter aerosols, within the context of exoplanet and brown dwarf atmospheres, are compared using three different models: Mie theory, Modified Mean Field (MMF) Theory, and Discrete Dipole Approximation (DDA). Previous results have demonstrated that fractal haze particles (MMF and DDA) absorb much less long-wavelength radiation than their spherical counterparts (Mie), however it is shown here that the opposite can also be true if a more varying refractive index profile is used. Additionally, it is demonstrated that absorption and scattering cross-sections, as well as the asymmetry parameter, are underestimated if Mie theory is used. Although DDA can be used to obtain more accurate results, it is known to be much more computationally intensive; to avoid this, the use of low-resolution aerosol models is explored, which could dramatically speed up the process of obtaining accurate computations of optical cross-sections within a certain parameter space. The validity of DDA is probed for wavelengths of interest for observations of aerosols within exoplanet and brown dwarf atmospheres (0.2 to 15 micrometres). Finally, novel code is presented to compare the results of Mie, MMF and DDA theories (CORAL: Comparison Of Radiative AnaLyses), as well as to increase and decrease the resolution of DDA shape files accordingly (SPHERIFY). Both codes can be applied to a range of other interesting astrophysical environments in addition to exoplanet atmospheres, for example dust grains within protoplanetary disks., Comment: 24 pages, 23 figures, accepted for publication in "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society"

Extreme debris disks can show short term behaviour through the evolution and clearing of small grains produced in giant impacts, and potentially a longer period of variability caused by a planetesimal population formed from giant impact ejecta. In this paper, we present results of numerical simulations to explain how a planetesimal populated disk can supply an observed extreme debris disk with small grains. We simulated a sample of giant impacts from which we form a planetesimal population. We then use the $N$-body code {\sc Rebound} to evolve the planetesimals spatially and collisionally. We adopt a simplistic collision criteria in which we define destructive collisions to be between planetesimals with a mutual impact velocity that exceeds two times the catastrophic disruption threshold, $V^*$. We find that for some configurations, a planetesimal populated disk can produce a substantial amount of dust to sustain an observable disk. The semi-major axis at which the giant impact occurs changes the mass added to the observed disk substantially while the orientation of the impact has less of an effect. We determine how the collision rate at the collision point changes over time and show that changes in semi-major axis and orientation only change the initial collision rate of the disk. Collision rates across all disks evolve at a similar rate., Comment: 20 pages, 21 figures, 3 tables, accepted by MNRAS

Planets grow in rotating disks of dust and gas around forming stars, some of which can subsequently collide in giant impacts after the gas component is removed from the disk. Monitoring programs with the warm Spitzer mission have recorded significant and rapid changes in mid-infrared output for several stars, interpreted as variations in the surface area of warm dusty material ejected by planetary-scale collisions and heated by the central star: e.g., NGC 2354-ID8, HD 166191 and V844 Persei. Here we report combined observations of the young (about 300 Myr), solar-like star ASASSN-21qj: an infrared brightening consistent with a blackbody temperature of 1000 K and a luminosity of 4 percent of that of the star lasting for about 1000 days, partially overlapping in time with a complex and deep wavelength-dependent optical eclipse that lasted for about 500 days. The optical eclipse started 2.5 years after the infrared brightening, implying an orbital period of at least that duration. These observations are consistent with a collision between two exoplanets of several to tens of Earth masses at 2 to 16 au from the central star. Such an impact produces a hot, highly-extended post-impact remnant with sufficient luminosity to explain the infrared observations. Transit of the impact debris, sheared by orbital motion into a long cloud, causes the subsequent complex eclipse of the host star., Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, author's Accepted Manuscript version, reproducible workflow built with showyourwork; open-source code can be found at https://github.com/mkenworthy/ASASSN-21qj-collision/

In this work, we used N-body simulations and a radiative transfer package to model the evolution of eccentric debris discs produced by giant impacts between planetary embryos. This included how the morphology and infrared emission of these discs varied with embryo eccentricity and collision true anomaly. We found that eccentric discs inherit the eccentric properties of the centre of mass orbit of the two colliding embryos. However, the orientation of the collision with the respect to this orbit plays a key role in determining how closely the disc material resembles the centre of mass orbit. Additionally, we found that increased eccentricity acted to suppress the formation of certain short-term variations in the disc emission depending on the collision position. These short-term variations have been associated with an observational phenomenon called extreme debris discs. Short-term variability has been suggested as a potential signature for giant impacts., Comment: 20 pages (+5 supplementary pages), 18 figures (+6 supplementary figures). For associated mpeg files, see https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/519/1/172/6873852#supplementary-data

Using smoothed particle hydrodynamics we model giant impacts of Super-Earth mass rocky planets between an atmosphere-less projectile and an atmosphere-rich target. In this work we present results from head-on to grazing collisions. The results of the simulations fall into two broad categories: 1) one main post-collision remnant containing material from target and projectile; 2) two main post-collision remnants resulting from `erosive hit-and-run' collisions. All collisions removed at least some of the target atmosphere, in contrast to the idealised hit-and-run definition in which the target mass is unchanged. We find that the boundary between `hit-and-run' collisions and collisions that result in the projectile and target accreting/merging to be strongly correlated with the mutual escape velocity at the predicted point of closest approach. Our work shows that it is very unlikely for a single giant impact to remove all of the atmosphere. For all the atmosphere to be removed, head-on impacts require roughly the energy of catastrophic disruption (i.e. permanent ejection of half the total system mass) and result in significant erosion of the mantle. We show that higher impact angle collisions, which are more common, are less efficient at atmosphere removal than head-on collisions. Therefore, single collisions that remove all the atmosphere without substantially disrupting the planet are not expected during planet formation., Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, to be published in MNRAS

In this paper, we present results from a multi-stage numerical campaign to begin to explain and determine why extreme debris disk detections are rare, what types of impacts will result in extreme debris disks and what we can learn about the parameters of the collision from the extreme debris disks. We begin by simulating many giant impacts using a smoothed particle hydrodynamical code with tabulated equations of state and track the escaping vapour from the collision. Using an $N$-body code, we simulate the spatial evolution of the vapour generated dust post-impact. We show that impacts release vapour anisotropically not isotropically as has been assumed previously and that the distribution of the resulting generated dust is dependent on the mass ratio and impact angle of the collision. In addition, we show that the anisotropic distribution of post-collision dust can cause the formation or lack of formation of the short-term variation in flux depending on the orientation of the collision with respect to the orbit around the central star. Finally, our results suggest that there is a narrow region of semi-major axis where a vapour generated disk would be observable for any significant amount of time implying that giant impacts where most of the escaping mass is in vapour would not be observed often but this does not mean that the collisions are not occurring., Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Many of the planets discovered by the Kepler satellite are close orbiting Super-Earths or Mini-Neptunes. Such objects exhibit a wide spread of densities for similar masses. One possible explanation for this density spread is giant collisions stripping planets of their atmospheres. In this paper we present the results from a series of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations of head-on collisions of planets with significant atmospheres and bare projectiles without atmospheres. Collisions between planets can have sufficient energy to remove substantial fractions of the mass from the target planet. We find the fraction of mass lost splits into two regimes -- at low impact energies only the outer layers are ejected corresponding to atmosphere dominated loss, at higher energies material deeper in the potential is excavated resulting in significant core and mantle loss. Mass removal is less efficient in the atmosphere loss dominated regime compared to the core and mantle loss regime, due to the higher compressibility of atmosphere relative to core and mantle. We find roughly twenty per cent atmosphere remains at the transition between the two regimes. We find that the specific energy of this transition scales linearly with the ratio of projectile to target mass for all projectile-target mass ratios measured. The fraction of atmosphere lost is well approximated by a quadratic in terms of the ratio of specific energy and transition energy. We provide algorithms for the incorporation of our scaling law into future numerical studies., Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS, for associated mp4 files see http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/TDenman/Paper1_Videos/t6-25Me_p0-25Me_v2e6cms.mp4 , http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/TDenman/Paper1_Videos/t6-25Me_p2Me_v3e6cms.mp4 , http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/TDenman/Paper1_Videos/t6-25Me_p4Me_v5e6cms.mp4 and http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/TDenman/Paper1_Videos/t6-25Me_p5Me_v6e6cms.mp4

Metals observed in the atmospheres of white dwarfs suggest that many have recently accreted planetary bodies. In some cases, the compositions observed suggest the accretion of material dominantly from the core (or the mantle) of a differentiated planetary body. Collisions between differentiated exoplanetesimals produce such fragments. In this work, we take advantage of the large numbers of white dwarfs where at least one siderophile (core-loving) and one lithophile (rock-loving) species have been detected to assess how commonly exoplanetesimals differentiate. We utilise N-body simulations that track the fate of core and mantle material during the collisional evolution of planetary systems to show that most remnants of differentiated planetesimals retain core fractions similar to their parents, whilst some are extremely core-rich or mantle-rich. Comparison with the white dwarf data for calcium and iron indicates that the data are consistent with a model in which $66^{+4}_{-6}\%$ have accreted the remnants of differentiated planetesimals, whilst $31^{+5}_{-5}\%$ have Ca/Fe abundances altered by the effects of heating (although the former can be as high as $100\%$, if heating is ignored). These conclusions assume pollution by a single body and that collisional evolution retains similar features across diverse planetary systems. These results imply that both collisions and differentiation are key processes in exoplanetary systems. We highlight the need for a larger sample of polluted white dwarfs with precisely determined metal abundances to better understand the process of differentiation in exoplanetary systems., Comment: 18 pages, MNRAS, accepted

The most dramatic phases of terrestrial planet formation are thought to be oligarchic and chaotic growth, on timescales of up to 100-200 Myr, when violent impacts occur between large planetesimals of sizes up to proto-planets. Such events are marked by the production of large amounts of debris as has been observed in some exceptionally bright and young debris disks (termed extreme debris disks). Here we report five years of Spitzer measurements of such systems around two young solar-type stars: ID8 and P1121. The short-term (weekly to monthly) and long-term (yearly) disk variability is consistent with the aftermaths of large impacts involving large asteroid-size bodies. We demonstrate that an impact-produced clump of optically thick dust, under the influence of the dynamical and viewing geometry effects, can produce short-term modulation in the disk light curves. The long-term disk flux variation is related to the collisional evolution within the impact-produced fragments once released into a circumstellar orbit. The time-variable behavior observed in the P1121 system is consistent with a hypervelocity impact prior to 2012 that produced vapor condensates as the dominant impact product. Two distinct short-term modulations in the ID8 system argue for two violent impacts at different times and locations. Its long-term variation is consistent with the collisional evolution of two different populations of impact-produced debris dominated by either vapor condensates or escaping boulders. The bright, variable emission from the dust produced in large impacts from extreme debris disks provides a unique opportunity to study violent events during the era of terrestrial planet formation., Comment: accepted for publication in AJ. typos and latex referencing fixed

Measures of exoplanet bulk densities indicate that small exoplanets with radius less than 3 Earth radii ($R_\oplus$) range from low-density sub-Neptunes containing volatile elements to higher density rocky planets with Earth-like or iron-rich (Mercury-like) compositions. Such astonishing diversity in observed small exoplanet compositions may be the product of different initial conditions of the planet-formation process and/or different evolutionary paths that altered the planetary properties after formation. Planet evolution may be especially affected by either photoevaporative mass loss induced by high stellar X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (XUV) flux or giant impacts. Although there is some evidence for the former, there are no unambiguous findings so far about the occurrence of giant impacts in an exoplanet system. Here, we characterize the two innermost planets of the compact and near-resonant system Kepler-107. We show that they have nearly identical radii (about $1.5-1.6~R_\oplus$), but the outer planet Kepler-107c is more than twice as dense (about $12.6~\rm g\,cm^{-3}$) as the innermost Kepler-107b (about $5.3~\rm g\,cm^{-3}$). In consequence, Kepler-107c must have a larger iron core fraction than Kepler-107b. This imbalance cannot be explained by the stellar XUV irradiation, which would conversely make the more-irradiated and less-massive planet Kepler-107b denser than Kepler-107c. Instead, the dissimilar densities are consistent with a giant impact event on Kepler-107c that would have stripped off part of its silicate mantle. This hypothesis is supported by theoretical predictions from collisional mantle stripping, which match the mass and radius of Kepler-107c., Comment: Published in Nature Astronomy on 4 February 2019, 35 pages including Supplementary Information material

The giant impact hypothesis remains the leading theory for lunar origin. However, current models struggle to explain the Moon's composition and isotopic similarity with Earth. Here we present a new lunar origin model. High-energy, high-angular momentum giant impacts can create a post-impact structure that exceeds the corotation limit (CoRoL), which defines the hottest thermal state and angular momentum possible for a corotating body. In a typical super-CoRoL body, traditional definitions of mantle, atmosphere and disk are not appropriate, and the body forms a new type of planetary structure, named a synestia. Using simulations of cooling synestias combined with dynamic, thermodynamic and geochemical calculations, we show that satellite formation from a synestia can produce the main features of our Moon. We find that cooling drives mixing of the structure, and condensation generates moonlets that orbit within the synestia, surrounded by tens of bars of bulk silicate Earth (BSE) vapor. The moonlets and growing moon are heated by the vapor until the first major element (Si) begins to vaporize and buffer the temperature. Moonlets equilibrate with BSE vapor at the temperature of silicate vaporization and the pressure of the structure, establishing the lunar isotopic composition and pattern of moderately volatile elements. Eventually, the cooling synestia recedes within the lunar orbit, terminating the main stage of lunar accretion. Our model shifts the paradigm for lunar origin from specifying a certain impact scenario to achieving a Moon-forming synestia. Giant impacts that produce potential Moon-forming synestias were common at the end of terrestrial planet formation., Comment: Accepted for publication in Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. Main text: 44 pages, 24 figures. Supplement: 16 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables

Geochemical studies of planetary accretion and evolution have invoked various degrees of collisional erosion to explain differences in bulk composition between planets and chondrites. Here we undertake a full, dynamical evaluation of 'crustal stripping' during accretion and its key geochemical consequences. We present smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of collisions between differentiated rocky planetesimals and planetary embryos. We find that the crust is preferentially lost relative to the mantle during impacts, and we have developed a scaling law that approximates the mass of crust that remains in the largest remnant. Using this scaling law and a recent set of N-body simulations, we have estimated the maximum effect of crustal stripping on incompatible element abundances during the accretion of planetary embryos. We find that on average one third of the initial crust is stripped from embryos as they accrete, which leads to a reduction of ~20% in the budgets of the heat producing elements if the stripped crust does not reaccrete. Erosion of crusts can lead to non-chondritic ratios of incompatible elements, but the magnitude of this effect depends sensitively on the details of the crust-forming melting process. The Lu/Hf system is fractionated for a wide range of crustal formation scenarios. Using eucrites (the products of planetesimal silicate melting, thought to represent the crust of Vesta) as a guide to the Lu/Hf of planetesimal crust partially lost during accretion, we predict the Earth could evolve to a superchondritic 176-Hf/177-Hf (3-5 parts per ten thousand) at present day. Such values are in keeping with compositional estimates of the bulk Earth. Stripping of planetary crusts during accretion can lead to detectable changes in bulk composition of lithophile elements, but the fractionation is relatively subtle, and sensitive to the efficiency of reaccretion., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in EPSL. Abstract shortened. Accompanying animations can be found at http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/pcarter/crust_strip/

Post-main-sequence planetary science has been galvanised by the striking variability, depth and shape of the photometric transit curves due to objects orbiting white dwarf WD 1145+017, a star which also hosts a dusty debris disc and circumstellar gas, and displays strong metal atmospheric pollution. However, the physical properties of the likely asteroid which is discharging disintegrating fragments remain largely unconstrained from the observations. This process has not yet been modelled numerically. Here, we use the N-body code PKDGRAV to compute dissipation properties for asteroids of different spins, densities, masses, and eccentricities. We simulate both homogeneous and differentiated asteroids, for up to two years, and find that the disruption timescale is strongly dependent on density and eccentricity, but weakly dependent on mass and spin. We find that primarily rocky differentiated bodies with moderate (~3-4 g/cm^3) bulk densities on near-circular (e <~ 0.1) orbits can remain intact while occasionally shedding mass from their mantles. These results suggest that the asteroid orbiting WD 1145+017 is differentiated, resides just outside of the Roche radius for bulk density but just inside the Roche radius for mantle density, and is more akin physically to an asteroid like Vesta instead of one like Itokawa., Comment: Accepted in MNRAS. Movies here!: http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/pcarter/WD1145_asteroid_disruption/

Observations of the youngest planets ($\sim$1-10 Myr for a transitional disk) will increase the accuracy of our planet formation models. Unfortunately, observations of such planets are challenging and time-consuming to undertake even in ideal circumstances. Therefore, we propose the determination of a set of markers that can pre-select promising exoplanet-hosting candidate disks. To this end, N-body simulations were conducted to investigate the effect of an embedded Jupiter mass planet on the dynamics of the surrounding planetesimal disk and the resulting creation of second generation collisional dust. We use a new collision model that allows fragmentation and erosion of planetesimals, and dust-sized fragments are simulated in a post process step including non-gravitational forces due to stellar radiation and a gaseous protoplanetary disk. Synthetic images from our numerical simulations show a bright double ring at 850 $\mu$m for a low eccentricity planet, whereas a high eccentricity planet would produce a characteristic inner ring with asymmetries in the disk. In the presence of first generation primordial dust these markers would be difficult to detect far from the orbit of the embedded planet, but would be detectable inside a gap of planetary origin in a transitional disk., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

Erosive collisions among planetary embryos in the inner solar system can lead to multiple remnant bodies, varied in mass, composition and residual velocity. Some of the smaller, unbound debris may become available to seed the main asteroid belt. The makeup of these collisionally produced bodies is different from the canonical chondritic composition, in terms of rock/iron ratio and may contain further shock-processed material. Having some of the material in the asteroid belt owe its origin from collisions of larger planetary bodies may help in explaining some of the diversity and oddities in composition of different asteroid groups., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures

The Earth appears non-chondritic in its abundances of refractory lithophile elements, posing a significant problem for our understanding of its formation and evolution. It has been suggested that this non-chondritic composition may be explained by collisional erosion of differentiated planetesimals of originally chondritic composition. In this work, we present N-body simulations of terrestrial planet formation that track the growth of planetary embryos from planetesimals. We simulate evolution through the runaway and oligarchic growth phases under the Grand Tack model and in the absence of giant planets. These simulations include a state-of-the-art collision model which allows multiple collision outcomes, such as accretion, erosion, and bouncing events, that enables tracking of the evolving core mass fraction of accreting planetesimals. We show that the embryos grown during this intermediate stage of planet formation exhibit a range of core mass fractions, and that with significant dynamical excitation, enough mantle can be stripped from growing embryos to account for the Earth's non-chondritic Fe/Mg ratio. We also find that there is a large diversity in the composition of remnant planetesimals, with both iron-rich and silicate-rich fragments produced via collisions., Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Accompanying animations can be found at http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/pcarter/comp_evo_15

The intermediate phases of planet formation are not directly observable due to lack of emission from planetesimals. Planet formation is, however, a dynamically active process resulting in collisions between the evolving planetesimals and the production of dust. Thus, indirect observation of planet formation may indeed be possible in the near future. In this paper we present synthetic observations based on numerical N-body simulations of the intermediate phase of planet formation including a state-of-the-art collision model, EDACM, which allows multiple collision outcomes, such as, accretion, erosion, and bouncing events. We show that the formation of planetary embryos may be indirectly observable by a fully functioning ALMA telescope if the surface area involved in planetesimal evolution is sufficiently large and/or the amount of dust produced in the collisions is sufficiently high in mass., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

The formation channel of the tens of compact debris discs which orbit white dwarfs (WDs) at a distance of one Solar radius remains unknown. Asteroids that survive the giant branch stellar phases beyond a few au are assumed to be dynamically thrust towards the WD and tidally disrupted within its Roche radius, generating extremely eccentric (e>0.98) rings. Here, we establish that WD radiation compresses and circularizes the orbits of super-micron to cm-sized ring constituents to entirely within the WD's Roche radius. We derive a closed algebraic formula which well-approximates the shrinking time as a function of WD cooling age, the physical properties of the star and the physical and orbital properties of the ring particles. The shrinking timescale increases with both particle size and cooling age, yielding age-dependent WD debris disc size distributions., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Several lines of evidence indicate a non-chondritic composition for Bulk Earth. If Earth formed from the accretion of chondritic material, its non-chondritic composition, in particular the super-chondritic 142Nd/144Nd and low Mg/Fe ratios, might be explained by the collisional erosion of differentiated planetesimals during its formation. In this work we use an N-body code, that includes a state-of-the-art collision model, to follow the formation of protoplanets, similar to proto-Earth, from differentiated planetesimals (> 100 km) up to isolation mass (> 0.16 M_Earth). Collisions between differentiated bodies have the potential to change the core-mantle ratio of the accreted protoplanets. We show that sufficient mantle material can be stripped from the colliding bodies during runaway and oligarchic growth, such that the final protoplanets could have Mg/Fe and Si/Fe ratios similar to that of bulk Earth, but only if Earth is an extreme case and the core is assumed to contain 10% silicon by mass. This may indicate an important role for collisional differentiation during the giant impact phase if Earth formed from chondritic material., Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Icarus

25%-50% of all white dwarfs (WDs) host observable and dynamically active remnant planetary systems based on the presence of close-in circumstellar dust and gas and photospheric metal pollution. Currently-accepted theoretical explanations for the origin of this matter include asteroids that survive the star's giant branch evolution at au-scale distances and are subsequently perturbed onto WD-grazing orbits following stellar mass loss. In this work we investigate the tidal disruption of these highly-eccentric (e > 0.98) asteroids as they approach and tidally disrupt around the WD. We analytically compute the disruption timescale and compare the result with fully self-consistent numerical simulations of rubble piles by using the N-body code PKDGRAV. We find that this timescale is highly dependent on the orbit's pericentre and largely independent of its semimajor axis. We establish that spherical asteroids readily break up and form highly eccentric collisionless rings, which do not accrete onto the WD without additional forces such as radiation or sublimation. This finding highlights the critical importance of such forces in the physics of WD planetary systems., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Observations of circumbinary planets orbiting very close to the central stars have shown that planet formation may occur in a very hostile environment, where the gravitational pull from the binary should be very strong on the primordial protoplanetary disk. Elevated impact velocities and orbit crossings from eccentricity oscillations are the primary contributors towards high energy, potentially destructive collisions that inhibit the growth of aspiring planets. In this work, we conduct high resolution, inter-particle gravity enabled N-body simulations to investigate the feasibility of planetesimal growth in the Kepler-34 system. We improve upon previous work by including planetesimal disk self-gravity and an extensive collision model to accurately handle inter-planetesimal interactions. We find that super-catastrophic erosion events are the dominant mechanism up to and including the orbital radius of Kepler-34(AB)b, making in-situ growth unlikely. It is more plausible that Kepler-34(AB)b migrated from a region beyond 1.5 AU. Based on the conclusions that we have made for Kepler-34 it seems likely that all of the currently known circumbinary planets have also migrated significantly from their formation location with the possible exception of Kepler-47(AB)c., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL

Transitional and pre--transitional disks can be explained by a number of mechanisms. This work aims to find a single observationally detectable marker that would imply a planetary origin for the gap and, therefore, indirectly indicate the presence of a young planet. N-body simulations were conducted to investigate the effect of an embedded planet of one Jupiter mass on the production of instantaneous collisional dust derived from a background planetesimal disk. Our new model allows us to predict the dust distribution and resulting observable markers with greater accuracy than previous work. Dynamical influences from a planet on a circular orbit are shown to enhance dust production in the disk interior and exterior to the planet orbit while removing planetesimals from the the orbit itself creating a clearly defined gap. In the case of an eccentric planet the gap opened by the planet is not as clear as the circular case but there is a detectable asymmetry in the dust disk., Comment: Accepted to ApJL 25th September 2013. 4 figures, 1 table

We study planetesimal evolution in circumbinary disks, focusing on the three systems Kepler 16, 34 and 35 where planets have been discovered recently. We show that for circumbinary planetesimals, in addition to secular forcing, eccentricities evolve on a dynamical timescale, which leads to orbital crossings even in the presence of gas drag. This makes the current locations of the circumbinary Kepler planets hostile to planetesimal accretion. We then present results from simulations including planetesimal formation and dust accretion, and show that even in the most favourable case of 100% efficient dust accretion, in situ growth starting from planetesimals smaller than ~10 km is difficult for Kepler 16b, Kepler 34b and Kepler 35b. These planets were likely assembled further out in the disk, and migrated inward to their current location., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL

In this paper we investigate the formation of narrow planetary rings such as those found around Uranus and Saturn through the tidal disruption of a weak, gravitationally bound satellite that migrates within its Roche limit. Using $N$-body simulations, we study the behaviour of rubble piles placed on circular orbits at different distances from a central planet. We consider both homogeneous satellites and differentiated bodies containing a denser core. We show that the Roche limit for a rubble pile is closer to the planet than for a fluid body of the same mean density. The Roche limit for a differentiated body is also closer to the planet than for a homogeneous satellite of the same mean density. Within its Roche limit, a homogeneous satellite totally disrupts and forms a narrow ring. The initial stages of the disruption are similar to the evolution of a viscous fluid ellipsoid, which can be computed semi-analytically. On the other hand, when a differentiated satellite is just within the Roche limit only the mantle is disrupted. This process is similar to Roche-lobe overflow in interacting binary stars and produces two narrow rings on either side of a remnant satellite. We argue that the Uranian rings, and possibly their shepherd satellites, could have been formed through the tidal disruption of a number of protomoons that were formed inside the corotation radius of Uranus and migrated slowly inwards as a result of tidal interaction with the planet., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Some figures have been compressed to fit into astro-ph size guidelines. Please contact authors if full resolution images are required

Collisions are the core agent of planet formation. In this work, we derive an analytic description of the dynamical outcome for any collision between gravity-dominated bodies. We conduct high-resolution simulations of collisions between planetesimals; the results are used to isolate the effects of different impact parameters on collision outcome. During growth from planetesimals to planets, collision outcomes span multiple regimes: cratering, merging, disruption, super-catastrophic disruption, and hit-and-run events. We derive equations (scaling laws) to demarcate the transition between collision regimes and to describe the size and velocity distributions of the post-collision bodies. The scaling laws are used to calculate maps of collision outcomes as a function of mass ratio, impact angle, and impact velocity, and we discuss the implications of the probability of each collision regime during planet formation. The analytic collision model presented in this work will significantly improve the physics of collisions in numerical simulations of planet formation and collisional evolution. (abstract abridged), Comment: Version 3, accepted to ApJ in Nov. 2011 published online Dec. 2011. Abstract abridged

Haumea, a rapidly rotating elongated dwarf planet (~ 1500 km in diameter), has two satellites and is associated with a "family" of several smaller Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) in similar orbits. All members of the Haumea system share a water ice spectral feature that is distinct from all other KBOs. The relative velocities between the Haumea family members are too small to have formed by catastrophic disruption of a large precursor body, which is the process that formed families around much smaller asteroids in the Main Belt. Here we show that all of the unusual characteristics of the Haumea system are explained by a novel type of giant collision: a graze-and-merge impact between two comparably sized bodies. The grazing encounter imparted the high angular momentum that spun off fragments from the icy crust of the elongated merged body. The fragments became satellites and family members. Giant collision outcomes are extremely sensitive to the impact parameters. Compared to the Main Belt, the largest bodies in the Kuiper Belt are more massive and experience slower velocity collisions; hence, outcomes of giant collisions are dramatically different between the inner and outer solar system. The dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt record an unexpectedly large number of giant collisions, requiring a special dynamical event at the end of solar system formation., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 12 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables.

The formation mechanism of planetesimals in protoplanetary discs is hotly debated. Currently, the favoured model involves the accumulation of meter-sized objects within a turbulent disc, followed by a phase of gravitational instability. At best one can simulate a few million particles numerically as opposed to the several trillion meter-sized particles expected in a real protoplanetary disc. Therefore, single particles are often used as super-particles to represent a distribution of many smaller particles. It is assumed that small scale phenomena do not play a role and particle collisions are not modeled. The super-particle approximation can only be valid in a collisionless or strongly collisional system, however, in many recent numerical simulations this is not the case. In this work we present new results from numerical simulations of planetesimal formation via gravitational instability. A scaled system is studied that does not require the use of super-particles. We find that the scaled particles can be used to model the initial phases of clumping if the properties of the scaled particles are chosen such that all important timescales in the system are equivalent to what is expected in a real protoplanetary disc. Constraints are given for the number of particles needed in order to achieve numerical convergence. We compare this new method to the standard super-particle approach. We find that the super-particle approach produces unreliable results that depend on artifacts such as the gravitational softening in both the requirement for gravitational collapse and the resulting clump statistics. Our results show that short range interactions (collisions) have to be modelled properly., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

The outcome of collisions between small icy bodies, such as Kuiper belt objects, is poorly understood and yet a critical component of the evolution of the trans-Neptunian region. The expected physical properties of outer solar system materials (high porosity, mixed ice-rock composition, and low material strength) pose significant computational challenges. We present results from catastrophic small body collisions using a new hybrid hydrocode to $N$-body code computational technique. This method allows detailed modeling of shock propagation and material modification as well as gravitational reaccumulation. Here, we consider a wide range of material strengths to span the possible range of Kuiper belt objects. We find that the shear strength of the target is important in determining the collision outcome for 2 to 50-km radius bodies, which are traditionally thought to be in a pure gravity regime. The catastrophic disruption and dispersal criteria, $Q_D^*$, can vary by up to a factor of three between strong crystalline and weak aggregate materials. The material within the largest reaccumulated remnants experiences a wide range of shock pressures. The dispersal and reaccumulation process results in the material on the surfaces of the largest remnants having experienced a wider range of shock pressures compared to material in the interior. Hence, depending on the initial structure and composition, the surface materials on large, reaccumulated bodies in the outer solar system may exhibit complex spectral and albedo variations. Finally, we present revised catastrophic disruption criteria for a range of impact velocities and material strengths for outer solar system bodies., Comment: 46 pages, 11 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in Icarus. Figures 1 and 8 are low resolution in astro-ph version. Contact Z. M. Leinhardt for full resolution version of paper

Collisions are a major modification process over the history of the Kuiper Belt. Recent work illuminates the complex array of possible outcomes of individual collisions onto porous, volatile bodies. The cumulative effects of such collisions on the surface features, composition, and internal structure of Kuiper Belt Objects are not yet known. In this chapter, we present the current state of knowledge of the physics of cratering and disruptive collisions in KBO analog materials. We summarize the evidence for a rich collisional history in the Kuiper Belt and present the range possible physical modifications on individual objects. The question of how well present day bodies represent primordial planetesimals can be addressed through future studies of the coupled physical and collisional evolution of Kuiper Belt Objects., Comment: To appear in The Solar System Beyond Neptune, published by Arizona Press