Dynamics of Extrasolar Planetary Systems

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

AST-0206182 PI Rasio The first planetary systems outside our own Solar System were detected about six years ago. By now close to 100 extrasolar planets have been detected around nearby, solar-like stars. These discoveries of extrasolar planets will no doubt lead to significant improvements in our understanding of many processes related to planet formation, structure and evolution, as well as deeper questions such as the existence of extraterrestrial life in the Universe. The search for, and characterization of, extrasolar planets has nowbecome a top scientific priority both in Europe and in the United States. This project will address a number of theoretical questions concerning the formation and evolution of planetary systems around other stars, including those in drastically different environments than the Sun, such as planets in dense star clusters or in orbits around collapsed objects like neutron stars. In particular, the dynamical stability and final fate of extrasolar planetary systems will be studied using supercomputing simulations that combine the techniques of orbital dynamics and numerical hydrodynamics. The consequences of dynamical interactions between planetary systems and their central stars (such as tidal interactions with 'hot Jupiters', or metallicity enhancements through 'planet consumption') will also be studied using a combination of stellar evolution and hydrodynamics calculations. All these questions are crucial to our theoretical interpretation of the new observational data on extrasolar planets. ***