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OATS-DAUT SEMINAR
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Speaker: Giuseppe Lodato (University of Leicester)
Title: Some issues on planet formation theory
Date: Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Time: 12:00
Venue: Villa Bazzoni
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Abstract: During the last ten years, hundreds of extra-solar
planets have been discovered, thus providing us with an ever growing
sample of systems to compare our theoretical modeling of the process
of planet formation with. Planet formation is a complex phenomenon,
which involves several dynamical, fluid dynamical, MHD and chemical
processes. While the general picture in which planets form mostly
within the circumstellar accretion discs surrounding young stars is
generally accepted, a few outstanding issues are still in place. The
leading theory of planet formation, called the 'core accretion' model,
has been sometimes challenged by the alternative 'gravitational
instability' model. In this talk, I will discuss merits and backdraws
of these two models, in the light of the results of recent numerical
simulations of the dynamics of circumstellar discs. I will finish by
discussing the predictions of the core accretion model about the
potential for planet formation around extremely low mass stars and
brown dwarfs, around which it has been recently claimed to have
observed the first extra-solar 'planet' seen in imaging.
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contact: Pierluigi Monaco (DAUT)