Modeling
the Evolution of the Dust Population in Protoplanetary Disks
The collision experiments in the lab and in SPH simulations (the projects
B2-B5 of this Forschergruppe) teach us about the outcome of individual
collisions between aggregates under well-defined initial conditions such as
impact velocity, target/projectile mass etc. However, what the long term
evolution is of a large ensemble of dust aggregates over millions of
collisions cannot be determined through such experiments alone. The project
we propose here is aimed to bring together the results of the B-projects
into an empirical 'coagulation-fragmentation kernel'. We will then implement
that into two different types of numerical models of grain
growth/fragmentation, and investigate the long term effects of the lab
results on the collisional growth of solids in a protoplanetary disk. In
addition to yielding this scientific end product, it will also reveal which
parts of collision parameter space are important and may need further
experimentation in the lab. Feedback to the B-projects is therefore an
integral part of this project. The ultimate aim is to provide a unified
picture of the process of growth from sub-micron sized particles to
kilometer sized planetesimals based for a large part on the results from the
Forschergruppe.
Principle Investigators
Dr. Cornelis Dullemond
Prof. Dr. Thomas Henning
