A LAGRANGIAN INTEGRATOR FOR PLANETARY ACCRETION AND DYNAMICS (LIPAD)
- Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302 (United States)
- Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, Queen's University Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 (Canada)
- Department of Physics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1 (Canada)
We present the first particle-based Lagrangian code that can follow the collisional/accretional/dynamical evolution of a large number of kilometer-sized planetesimals through the entire growth process of becoming planets. We refer to it as the Lagrangian Integrator for Planetary Accretion and Dynamics or LIPAD. LIPAD is built on top of SyMBA, which is a symplectic N-body integrator. In order to handle the very large number of planetesimals required by planet formation simulations, we introduce the concept of a tracer particle. Each tracer is intended to represent a large number of disk particles on roughly the same orbit and size as one another and is characterized by three numbers: the physical radius, the bulk density, and the total mass of the disk particles represented by the tracer. We developed statistical algorithms that follow the velocity and size evolution of the tracers due to close gravitational encounters and physical collisions with one another. The tracers mainly dynamically interact with the larger objects (planetary embryos) in the normal N-body way. LIPAD's greatest strength is that it can accurately model the wholesale redistribution of planetesimals due to gravitational interaction with the embryos, which has recently been shown to significantly affect the growth rate of planetary embryos. We verify the code via a comprehensive set of tests that compare our results with those of Eulerian and/or direct N-body codes.
- OSTI ID:
- 22089842
- Journal Information:
- Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Vol. 144, Issue 4; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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