Physical Processes Commons^™

Terrestrial Planet Formation In A Circumbinary Disc Around A Coplanar Binary, Anna C. Childs, Rebecca G. Martin

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

With N-body simulations, we model terrestrial circumbinary planet (CBP) formation with an initial surface density profile motivated by hydrodynamic circumbinary gas disc simulations. The binary plays an important role in shaping the initial distribution of bodies. After the gas disc has dissipated, the torque from the binary speeds up the planet formation process by promoting body-body interactions but also drives the ejection of planet building material from the system at an early time. Fewer but more massive planets form around a close binary compared to a single star system. A sufficiently wide or eccentric binary can prohibit terrestrial planet formation. …