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TURBULENCE, PEBBLES AND PLANETESIMALS : THE ORIGIN OF MINOR BODIES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Project description

Studying planetesimal formation through numerical experiments and turbulence models

The minor bodies of the solar system, such as asteroids, Trojans, comets, and Kuiper Belt objects, are remnants of planetesimals formed from collisions and the accretion of large grains, known as pebbles. Gas turbulence influences the size, distribution, and concentration of these grains, affecting planetesimal formation. The ERC-funded TiPPi project aims to develop new numerical experiments to study three stages of planetesimal formation. It will focus on achieving self-consistent turbulence and pebble-sized distributions. The project will also research the transport, diffusion, and collisions of dust grains and incorporate these findings into disk simulations. Additionally, it will calibrate turbulence models and planetesimal formation processes using observational and laboratory data.

Objective

The Minor Bodies of the Solar System, Asteroids, Trojans, Comets and Kuiper Belt Objects are left over planetary building bricks called planetesimals once abundant in the solar nebula. Via collisions and accretion of large grains, aka Pebbles, they grew into planets.
The efficiency of Planetesimals formation via a gravitational collapse of Pebble clouds and the characteristics of the forming planetesimals are determined by the size distribution and local concentration of the largest grains, both being regulated by gas turbulence. But turbulence itself is dependent on the abundance of small grains, by regulating the ionisation level and the radiative cooling process.
In this project we will develop radically new types of numerical experiments of three stages of planetesimal formation, with the goal of a self-consistent turbulence and pebble size distribution:
1. Development of tools to measure the transport, diffusion, and collisions of dust grains for arbitrary MHD or Radiation Hydro disk simulations to derive via an Coagulation Code and Machine Learning Technique a consistent particle size distribution for consistent opacities and ionisation rates to feed back into the turbulence simulation.
2. Implementation of a tree-solver for the gravitational attraction among pebbles in self-consistent turbulence simulations to identify the properties of pebble clouds that can undergo gravitational collapse.
3. Integration of an implicit solver for our Lagrangian Particle scheme to model the collapse of pebble clouds, while not only deriving a mass function and multiplicity, but with a model for elasticity and porosity analyse the spin, shape, and compression for the forming planetesimals, comets and asteroids.
In close collaboration with our scientific community we will calibrate our turbulence models and the planetesimal formation process on the observation of disks around young stars as well as observational and laboratory data on Minor Bodies in the Solar System.

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Topic(s)

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HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2023-ADG

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Host institution

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 490 000,00
Address
HOFGARTENSTRASSE 8
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany

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Region
Bayern Oberbayern München, Kreisfreie Stadt
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 2 490 000,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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