Sculpting Circumstellar Disks
Alice Quillen (Rochester) - WED 15 Mar at 12:00 noon
Recent observations of circumstellar disks have revealed
a variety of interesting morphology:
holes, puffed up edges, gaps, spiral features, warps, clumps, lopsidedness.
Models proposed to account for the morphology can
involve unseen massive objects, such as planets.
Planets discovered or constrained by these studies cannot
yet be detected by other observational techniques.
Systems with bright disks represent analogs to the young Solar
system so by studying them
we probe the formation and evolution of planetary systems.
In this talk I will explore explanations for
the observed morphology of some circumstellar disks.
The dynamics of circumstellar disks
is complex and rich, and has led to better understanding
of processes such as resonant capture.
I will present a generalization of capture theory
extended to the non-adiabatic limit and to resonances
which multiple subterms. The framework can be applied
to any migrating or drifting system.
The seminar will be held in 544 Campbell Hall.
Return to seminar schedule