Martin Pessah : Planet Migration in Dusty Protoplanetary Disks

Speaker : Dr. Martin Pessah (Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen)
Date : 28th January, 2025
Title : Planet Migration in Dusty Protoplanetary Disks
Abstract : Fast inward migration of planetary cores embedded
in gaseous disks is a common problem in the current planet
formation paradigm. Even though dust is ubiquitous in
protoplanetary disks, its dynamical role in the migration
history of planetary embryos has not been considered
until recently. In this talk, I will show that a planetesimal
embedded in a dusty disk leads to an asymmetric dust-density
distribution that can exert a net torque under conditions
relevant to planetary embryos up to several Earth masses.
Building on the results or a large suite of numerical
simulations for measuring this dust torque under a wide
range of conditions, I will present the first study showing
that dust torques can have a significant impact on the
migration and formation history of planetary embryos.