CAREER: Origins of Structure in Planetary Systems

University Of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA

Investigators

Abstract

The PI and her students at the University of California Santa Barbara will carry out a comprehensive program of theoretical studies that will allow her to predict which physical conditions generate planetary systems comparable to our own. Ultimately, this will facilitate identification of outlier planets that could host life. Integrated with her research program, she will identify Hispanic students interested in physics as they enter UCSB and lead an effort to increase their retention in the physics major. To do this, she will develop a freshman course specifically designed for underrepresented minority students, help them develop a cohort and establish a mentoring network as they continue with their undergraduate studies, and provide them research opportunities. The specific goals of this project are to (1) test whether disk turbulence sets the wide separation limit for core-accretion formation of giant planets by calculating the efficiency of pebble accretion in turbulent disks, (2) test whether giant planets formed via core accretion or gravitational fragmentation, (3) perform dynamical analyses of disturbed debris disks to study scattered interlopers in the wide-separation planet population, (4) use the combined dynamics of classical and resonant Kuiper belt objects to constrain the outer solar system's dynamical history, and (5) synthesize the results of these studies into collections of planetary system architectures that can be used to test which physical parameters determine a particular system's structure.