Institution: WiCOR, UW-Madison

Title: Modeling the Chemical and Dynamic Feedback Mechanisms of Planet Formation

Abstract: Planets form in protoplanetary disks, inheriting the composition of the solids and gas present at their formation location. These PPDs, however, are constantly evolving, with dust growth, fragmentation, and pebble drift driving chemical evolution in the gas. While these effects are beginning to be understood, what is less well constrained is the feedback mechanisms between growing planets and the disks in which they form. In this talk, I will discuss recent work using a variety of computational techniques to create a wholistic, self-consistent model of planet-disk interactions and the resulting disk chemical evolution. By combining constraints from disk observations, meteorite measurements, and exoplanet atmospheres I argue for an active stirring of dust near the orbit of giant planets, vertically mixing small dust grains and driving grain surface chemistry. This stirring may have important implications for the formation and transport of complex organic molecules throughout the disk, including delivery to inner terrestrial planets.

Host: Coco Zhang

Tea and cookies begin at 3:15 PM. Zoom link found here.