DOI

Debris disks in planetary systems are known to possess gaps "opened" by planets in their close-to-coorbital neighborhoods; the gaps are free from low-mass material such as planetesimals. We consider the escape process of the initially zero-eccentric particles from the gap zone in a scenario consisting of two basic consequent stages: (1) the particle orbit's eccentricity is inflated, while its specific energy is relatively constant, and (2) the particle orbit's semimajor axis is inflated, while its specific angular momentum is relatively constant. During the first stage, the chaotic transport (diffusion) proceeds along the "staircase" of (p + 1):p (with integer p Gt 1) overlapping particle–planet resonances, and during the second stage, it proceeds along the p:1 particle–planet resonance staircase. A specialized two-dimensional area-preserving map (a "tokamap" version) is derived to describe the first stage, while a multiharmonic Kepler map theory is used to describe the second stage. We derive the μ (mass parameter) scaling for the clearing timescale in the planetary chaotic zone. At small μ, it turns out to be inverse-quadratic in μ. The μ scaling for the Lyapunov timescale inside the gap is also derived. The derived scalings are in qualitative agreement with available numerical-experimental data.
Original languageEnglish
Article number212
Number of pages12
JournalAstronomical Journal
Volume160
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2020

    Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

    Research areas

  • CAPTURE, CRITERION, Celestial mechanics, Chaos, DYNAMICS, Dynamical evolution, ECCENTRICITY, EVOLUTION, Exoplanet dynamics, Exoplanet systems, Exoplanets, MAGNETIC-FIELD LINES, ORBITS, Orbital motion, Orbital resonances, RESONANCE, SYMPLECTIC MAPS, SYSTEMS, Three-body problem

ID: 70152254