Date of Graduation
Spring 2025
Degree
Master of Natural and Applied Science in Physics
Department
Physics, Astronomy, and Materials Science
Committee Chair
Sarah Morrison
Abstract
We performed dynamical simulations of the giant impact phase of planet formation to investigate the formation of inner terrestrial planets under the influence of 4 solar system-like outer giant planets. We developed a new code using the N-body simulation suite REBOUND and REBOUNDx (Rein et al. (2019) and Tamayo et al. (2019)) to simulate 2 stages of planetary formation: a residual gaseous protoplanetary disk phase and subsequent dynamical evolution after the disk photoevaporates. The initial conditions for the inner planetary embryos were taken by Morrison et al. (2020) based on a range of solid surface densities that produced Super-Earth terrestrial planets at the end of formation. The giant planets' initial conditions were taken from the JPL Horizons system (Giorgini et al. 2001). We compared our final results with other 2 cases where a single giant planet was present (Guerra Toro et al., 2022) and when no giant planets were present (Morrison et al., 2020). During the residual gas disk phase, the 3 cases showed a similar mass percent change, but our system produced fewer planets with higher ranges of eccentricities. Using inner planet outcomes from the post-gas disk phase, we performed a 2-sample K-S test that indicated the inner planet populations formed in the presence of 4 outer giant planets were significantly different from the other 2 cases mentioned in this study. Moreover, the dynamic spacing shows that the separation between the terrestrial planets was greater when the 4 giant planets were present during formation. Our results also showed that, in general, terrestrial planets under the influence of the solar system giant planets would not form pairs located near the first order of resonances. These findings highlight how the presence of giant planets can influence terrestrial planet formation across systems with different initial solid surface densities.
Keywords
Terrestrial Exoplanetary Formation, Exoplanetary Dynamics, Near Resonant Formation, Dynamical Evolution and Stability, Planet-Disk Interactions
Subject Categories
Astrophysics and Astronomy | Dynamic Systems | Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing | Other Astrophysics and Astronomy | Other Physics | Statistical Models | The Sun and the Solar System
Copyright
© Mateo E. Guerra Toro
Recommended Citation
Guerra Toro, Mateo E., "The Presence of Outer Giant Planets and Their Role in Inner Planet Formation With and Without Their Influence" (2025). MSU Graduate Theses/Dissertations. 4041.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/4041
Open Access
Included in
Dynamic Systems Commons, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing Commons, Other Astrophysics and Astronomy Commons, Other Physics Commons, Statistical Models Commons, The Sun and the Solar System Commons
