Abstract: Extensive numerical experiments on the long-term dynamics of planetesimals near the orbits of planets around single stars with debris disks have been carried out. The radial sizes of planetesimal clusters and the planetary chaotic zone as a function of mass parameter μ (planet–star mass ratio) have been determined numerically with a high accuracy separately for the outer and inner parts of the chaotic zone. The results obtained have been analyzed and interpreted in light of existing analytical theories (based on the planet–planetesimal mean motion resonance overlap criterion) and in comparison with previous numerical-experiment approaches to the problem. We show and explain how the stepwise dependence of the chaotic zone sizes on μ is determined by the marginal resonances.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)774-782
Number of pages9
JournalAstronomy Letters
Volume46
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2020

    Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

    Research areas

  • debris disks, dynamical chaos, planetary chaotic zones, planetesimals

ID: 76790918