$N$-body Simulation of Planetesimal Formation Through Gravitational Instability of a Dust Layer

Abstract

We performed N-body simulations of a dust layer without a gas component and examined the formation process of planetesimals. We found that the formation process of planetesimals can be divided into three stages: the formation of non-axisymmetric wake-like structures, the creation of aggregates, and the collisional growth of the aggregates. Finally, a few large aggregates and many small aggregates are formed. The mass of the largest aggregate is larger than the mass predicted by the linear perturbation theory. We examined the dependence of system parameters on the planetesimal formation. We found that the mass of the largest aggregates increase as the size of the computational domain increases. However the ratio of the aggregate mass to the total mass $M_{\mathrm{aggr}}/M_{\mathrm{total}}$ is almost constant $0.8-0.9$. The mass of the largest aggregate increases with the optical depth and the Hill radius of particles.

arXiv comment34 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

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• The Validity of the Super-Particle Approximation during Planetesimal Formation
• Forming the Cold Classical Kuiper Belt in a light Disk
• N-Body Simulation of Planetesimal Formation through Gravitational Instability of a Dust Layer in Laminar Gas Disk
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