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Missing Links in Planet Formation: From Embedded Disks to Planets
November 9(Mon)-13(Fri), 2026
ASIAA, Taipei

Oral Presentation

Formation of Multiple Dynamical Classes in the Kuiper Belt via Disk Dissipation

Author(s): Tommy Chi Ho Lau (UChicago; LMU Munich), Til Birnstiel (LMU Munich; Exzellenzcluster ORIGINS), Sebastian M. Stammler (LMU Munich), Joanna Drążkowska (Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research)

Presenter: Tommy Chi Ho Lau (University of Chicago)

Planetesimal formation likely lasted for millions of years in the solar nebula, and the cold classicals in the Kuiper Belt are suggested to be the direct products of streaming instability. The presence of minor planetary bodies in the outer solar system and the exo-Kuiper belts provide key constraints to planet formation models. In this work, we connected dust drift and coagulation, planetesimal formation, N-body gravity, pebble accretion, planet migration, planetary core accretion, gap opening, and internal photoevaporation in one modeling framework. We demonstrate that multiple classes of minor planets, or planetesimals, can form during disk dissipation and remain afterwards, including a scattered group, a resonant group, and a dynamically cold group. Significant growth by pebble accretion was prevented by both dynamical heating due to the giant planet in the system and rapid dispersal of the disk toward the end of its lifetime. We also conducted a parameter study which showed that this is not a universal case, where the outcome is determined by the competition for dust between planetesimal formation and pebble accretion. Combining this scenario with sequential planet formation, this model provides a promising pathway toward an outer solar system formation model.

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