paper

Formation of planets by tidal downsizing of giant planet embryos

arXiv:1007.4159 · doi:10.1111/j.1745-3933.2010.00923.x

Abstract

We hypothesise that planets are made by tidal downsizing of migrating giant planet embryos. The proposed scheme for planet formation consists of these steps: (i) a massive young protoplanetary disc fragments at R ~ several tens to hundreds of AU on gaseous clumps with masses of a few Jupiter masses; (ii) the clumps cool and contract, and simultaneously migrate closer in to the parent star; (iii) as earlier suggested by Boss (1998), dust sediments inside the gas clumps to form terrestrial mass solid cores; (iv) if the solid core becomes more massive than ~ 10 Earth masses, a massive gas atmosphere collapses onto the solid core; (v) when the gas clumps reach the inner few AU from the star, tidal shear and evaporation due to stellar irradiation peel off the outer metal-poor envelope of the clump. If tidal disruption occurs quickly, while the system is still in stage (iii), a terrestrial planet core is left. If it happens later, in stage (iv), a metal rich gas giant planet with a solid core emerges from the envelope.

to appear in MNRAS Letters; referred to as "paper III" of the series

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