ABSTRACT
The migration of planets, through the exchange of angular momentum with the protoplanetary discs in which they form, is likely to be important during planet formation. Evidence for migration is provided by systems of multiple exoplanets in which the planets are in mean motion resonances, and by the orbital configurations of circumbinary planets. However, attempts to reproduce the known population of exoplanets by using planetary population synthesis models that include migration have not been successful, in part because inwards migration is too efficient. In this talk, I will review our current understanding of planet migration and describe recent developments in the context of protoplanetary discs where the turbulent viscosity is weak and radiative processes play an important role.
BIO
Richard Nelson is Professor of Astronomy & Mathematics in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). He obtained his PhD from QMUL in 1994 before being awarded a National Academy of Sciences postdoctoral fellowship, which he held at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, U.S.A. He returned to London and was appointed as a Lecturer in Astronomy & Mathematics in 2000. His early work was on the theoretical study of binary star formation and the evolution of interstellar molecular clouds. However, since the discovery of the first exoplanet to orbit around a Sun-like star (51 Peg b) in 1995, his research has focussed on understanding the formation and migration of planets and the dynamical evolution of protoplanetary discs.
Host: Chris Ormel
