Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Secular Resonances During Main-Sequence And Post-Main-Sequence Planetary System Dynamics, Jeremy L. Smallwood

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

We investigate gravitational perturbations of an asteroid belt by secular resonances. We ap- ply analytic and numerical models to main–sequence and post–main–sequence planetary systems. First, we investigate how the asteroid impact rate on the Earth is affected by the architecture of the planetary system. We find that the nu6 resonance plays an important role in the asteroid collision rate with the Earth. Compared to exoplanetary systems, the solar system is somewhat special in its lack of a super–Earth mass planet in the inner solar system. We therefore consider the effects of the presence of a super–Earth in the terrestrial planet …