Computer Simulations of Planetary Accretion Dynamics:

Sensitivity to Initial Conditions

Na~tional Askonomy and Imospherr Clmter, Cordl I Tniversity, Ithaca, New Yoo,k1,$X5,3

AND

Laboratory for Ilaneta~y Studies, Cornell I eniver.sitty, Ithaca, New ITurk 1485.3

Received November 11, lH70 ; revised January 3, 1!)77

We have tested the implicatiorts and lind(atious of Program ACRETIS, a scheme based
merely OII Newtonian physics and accret,ion wit,h unit, sticking efficiency, devised by l)ole
in 1970 to simulate t,he origin of the planels. The depetldelrce of the results on :t variet.1
of radial and vertical dencii,y dist,ribution laws, on the rat,io of gas 00 dust. in the solar nebula,
on the total nebular mass, alrd on the orbiial ecc:ent,ricity, t, of t,he accret.ing grains are ex-
plored. Only for a small srtbset of conceivable cases are planet,ary systems closely like om
own generat,ed. .\latly models have tendencies t,oward one of t,wo preferred configurations :
multiple-star systems, or planetary syst,ems ill which Jovial1 planet,s eit,her have substantial1J
smaller masses than ill our system or are absent slt,ogether. HII~ for :I wide range of cases
recognizable planetary syst.ems are getleraf,ed, ranging from m\ill iple-st,ar systems wit,h
accompanying planetti, t,o syst,ems with Jovian planets at, several hundred asbronomical urlits,
to single stars surrourlded only by sst8eroids. LIany systems exhibit planets like Pluto and
ol)jects of asteroidal mass, in addition to useful I errestrial and ,Jovian planets. No terrestrial
planets were geuerated more massive (hall five Nnrt h masses. The ntunber of planets per system
is for most cases of order 10, and, roughly, inversely proportional t,o t. All systems generated
obey a relation of 1he Titius--Bode variety for relative planetary spacing. The ease with which
planetary syst.ems are general ed using such element :try and incomplete physical a.ssllrnptic>rlh
srlpports tbe idea of :tbund:u~t RII~ nlo~ph~,l~l~ic~all~ diverse planet a1.y syst,rms throughout
the-Galaxy.

I. INTROl)1J(:lION I~urt~hcrliiort~, almost all of th(n detailed

The ultimate problrm in planetaq Inodels have conwntratcd on the important
studies is thtl origin of thth solar system. wrly stages of solar systcw history, partic-
Despite a serious recent att,ack on the ularly the solar nebula, and not on the
problem by many inv&igators, much of origins:of planets per se. l;or example, t~lir
which has bwn published ill the pages of significant papcar by Goldreich and Ward
Icarus ovw the last fwv years, it seems safr (1973) carriw the history of the solar
to say that no generally acccptablc drt,ailcd wbula up to the gcrwration of plarwtc simals
model of thrb origin of th(i solar systc,m of about th(l sizes of Ihobos and Dcknos.
exists. Indeed, tht, rate of change of models On tht, obwrvational sid(x, th(l most recent
of origins, (WYI in the hands of c~xpwicnccd \\-ark has wrwd to cast doubts on thtl
individual invwtigators, is a clc~tr indiw- wliabilitj. of claimr4 idwtifications of
tiolr of t,hcl unwrtaint~. 01 thcl subjcTt. oxt r:1solur ~,l:LWtar~ systc?Ils (( ::~tcwwd,

ISSS OO,!, IO:<.;

 511

Orbital Distance. au.

FIG. 1. Planet,ary systems generated by Dole (1970) using program ACRETE. Solid circles
represent t,errestrial planek, while open circles indicat,e Jovian planet,s that have arcreted gas
as well as dust,. The radius of each circle is scaled solely by the cube root of t.he planetas mass,
given in t,he figures in unit,s of Eart,h masses. The posit.ions of Jovian planets are given by t#he
centers of t,he circles. Those cases in which planets appear to be abutting or overlapping are,
of course, only artifack of t,he schematic diagram. All plane& produced are well-separated,
as the relat,ive nositjions of t.heir cent,ers indicate. The fourth system displayed is our own; the
others are generated by ACRETE.

197(i), rather than providing a data source
against which models of origins can be
tested. In these circumst,ances any model
which purports to generate planetary
systc>ms recognizably similar to our own
deserves careful scrutiny.
Any acceptablta model for the formation
of t,he solar system should be able to account
at least for its most obvious characteristics :
the distinction between terrestrial and
,Jovian planets, the spacing of planetary
orbits, and the distribution of planetary
mass with heliocentric distance. Such
parameters as the rotation periods of the
planets, the orbital configuration of comets,
asteroids, and thc particles in the rings of
Saturn, and the anomalous obliquitics of
Uranus and Venus arc prcaumably details
not essential to an understanding of the
formation prowsww although it is possible
existing model which attempts to generate
mature planetary systems as opposed to
other stages in the evolution of solar
nebulae is that of Dole (1970). In his
computer simulation, accretion nuclei
of specified mass are injected in prograde
orbits in the invariable plane of a primitive
solar nebula composed of both gas and dust.
The physics are simply Newtonian mech-
anics and perfectly inelastic collisions.
When accretion nuclei collide with dust
grains the grains adhere with unit efficiency.
Growing accretion nuclei beyond a certain
mass gravitationally accrete gas as well.
When two accretion nuclei collide they
stick also and produce a larger planetesimal.
The process is pwmit,trd to continue until
all the dust and some of the gas is gathered
into planets. For some choices of input
paramctcrs the resulting planetary con-

that, they might provithi signifiwllt c*lws. figur:ltions (lig. 1) a~(~rcw1:wl;al)l~~ likes
t11ow of thcl solar system.
512 ISAACMAN
At first sight it appears quite rxtra-
ordinary that so simple a physical protocol
can lead to so recognizable a set of planetary
systems. The program takes no explicit
account of chemical segregation with hclio-
centric distance in the solar nebula, of a
clearing out by solar radiation pressure and
the solar wind of t,he irmer solar system
during the T Tauri stage of t,hc Sun, of
hydromagnctic cffccts, turbulent convec-
tion, or of plan&s dynamically unstable
because of rapid rotation. If the origin of
the planets can indeed be understood with
such elementary assumptions and Tvith
plausible input parameters, the model
deserves much deeper attrlntiotl.
Dole was able to produce planetary
systems of recognizable characteristics only
lvith a certain choice of input paramct)ers
and assumed structure of t,he solar nebula.
The present paper is devoted to a critical
examinat,ions of these assumptions and an
exploration of the consequences of varia-
tions of parameters and assumed solar
nebular structure. It does /Lotattempt to
present a detailed model of solar system
formation much beyond the simple dy-
namical model employed by Dole.
For example, the coplanar character of
the simulated planetary systems is a direct.
consequence of the fact that the accret3ion
nuclei arc injected with zero inclination in
prograde orbits. The formation and dynam-
ical properties of the accretion nuclei are
not further justified by Dole; WT \vill dis-
cuss t,hem further in the light of more recent
research. The increased current skepticism
(Gatewood, 1976) on earlier reductions of
perturbations in the proper motion of
Barnards Star removes t)hc props front
ANI) SAGAN
thr reduction by Black and SufYolk (1973)
according to which the planct,s of the
Barnard Star system would not have been
in coplanar orbits.
The computer simulation program, called
ACRETE, was written by .J. Rice and
generously provided to us by 8. Dolt. Wt:
have varied the program where necessary.
In this section we describe t,h(. cssc*ntial
features of ACRETE.
1. The solar nebula is taken to have the
shape of an (~xocon~, seen edge-on in
Eig. 2. The shape is assumed to arise from
an originally spherical cloud of gas and
dust n-ith some nonzt~ro net angular momen-
tum in which dust particles with orbits
highly inclined to thr invariable plane are
cvent,ually degraded to orbits of lower
inclinat~ion through inelastic collisions. Alost
models of thr solar nebula assume either a
similar configuration or a cylindrical (disk-
shaped) distribution of matter in which thcl
density of gas and dust falls off away front
the central plane. In its original application,
ACRETE does not, take account of the
vertical density distribution. A corrected
treatment will be discussed in a later
section.
2. The mass ratio of gas to dust in the
nebula is a constant, K = pg/pd, where ps
and p,~ are, respectively, th(b radially
dependent densities of gas and dust.
While it may be reasonable to clxpect that
this ratio will be independent of radial
distance in the cc~nt,rnlplant of the nebula,
the mass difference b(%\v(~rna dust particle
and I gas mol~~culc will (nsurc diffcrcnt
Central Plane
 COMPUTER SIMULATIONS
scale heights for their respective vertical
density distributions. This correction, how-
ever, would complicate the computer
program greatly, and was not taken into
account either by Dole or by us. Dole used
the value K = 50, which will be shown
later to bc a reasonable number.
3. In Doles study, the density distribu-
tion of dust is Ed = A exp ( - M~), where r
is the distance from t,he center of mass of
the cloud in astronomical units (AU), and
A and .(Y are adjustable parameters. In
addition to experimenting with A and (Y,
we have varied the functional form itself.
Dole was able to generate aesthetically
pleasing, i.e., solar-system-like, planetary
systems when A = 0.0015 MO/AU3 and
a! = 5. The justification for these particular
choices was one of convenience; Dole was
not striving for any generality, since hc
stated that the object of his exercise was
to generate planetary systems similar to
our own. We will examine other choices of
A and o( as well as other choices for the
functional form pd.
4. The dust particles comprising the
cloud (other t,han the accretion nuclei) are
all given the same orbital eccentricity C, an
input parameter (Doles value is c = 0.25),
and arc taken to have randomly distributed
semimajor axes and inclinations. We will
cxaminc the consequences of other choices
of E, but for simplicity will not assume a
distribution function for various values of
the orbital eccentricity of dust grains.
5. The accretion nuclei arc taken to
have some initial mass m. which is an
input parameter of the program. The nuclei
are injected into prograde orbits of zero
inclination, with semimajor axes randomly
distributed between 0.3 and 50 AU, and
with eccentricities given by the distribution
function e = 1 - (1 - Y).077, where Y is
random between 0 and 1. This form is an
empirical distribution derived by Dole
which reproduces the distribution of planet-
ary eccentricities in the solar system. The
small exponent yields small eccentricities
OF ACCRETION 513
and, since any nucleus undergoing accretion
would suffer numerous inelastic collisions
that would tend to circularize its orbit, it
was not felt necessary to change the
exponent even though it is an input
parameter. Similarly, the bounds of 0.3 and
50 AU for the semimajor axes are also
input variables, but changing them changes
neither the physics of the problem nor (t,o
any substantial degree) the results. Occa-
sionally, these limits were moved closer
together for convenience when no plan&s
could be formed at the extromitirs of the
cloud.
6. A nucleus captures all dust particles
which cross its orbit (sticking coefficient
unity), plus those whose orbits fall in an
unstable region related to its gravitational
cross section. The radial extent of this
region around the accretion nucleus is
given by z = TP~~,where r is the distance
of the nucleus from the center of the nebula
and ~1 is its reduced mass with respect to
the Sun : p = m/ (1 + m), where m is the
nuclear mass expressed in solar masses.
The expression for x: is an approximation
of the solution of the restrict,cd three-body
problem. Birn (1973) finds the exponent
to be 5 instead of $, but t)his was not
changed in the program, since t)hr cff(lct
of the change can be shown to be small.
Also, it is implicitly assumed t,hat t)hc
semimajor axes of all orbits preccss t,hrough
all directions in t,he invariable plane via
accumulated gravitational perturbations.
7. Nuclei accretc only dust initially,
until their masses (and hence escape
velocities) are high enough to permit the
retention of gas as well. If we assume that
an accrcting planctoid of mass m has
uniform density, its escape velocity vr is
proportional to m13. A gas molecule at
tcmpcrature T has a velocity proportional
to Tl*, and, if we assume a tclmpcrat~urc-
distance dependence of T (1.) = T,,(r/r,)-1
(where T is the radial distance from t,hc
central star), then the gas velocit,y becomes
ZJ, m r-114. The functional form chosen for
514 ISAACMAN ANI) SAC:hN

Y(r) is appropriate for au opt>ically thin iteration < IOk. Itlcally, ow \~oultl lil<cl to
solar Iwbulx and for som(~ choic~~s of have all of t11<, nuclei go\\-ing simul-
optically t)hick ncbulac:. ITor retention of taucously siuw, in t,hct present form of the
gas above some critical mass no,., QY: drmand calculation, the final appcaranw of :I
21, > Ug, or C,VL,~ = Cg-14, so that. m,, planetary syskm is weakly dopcndcnt on
= CS~-~~, whew Cl, C2, alid C:, aw con- tht> order in which t,hc uccrction nuclei
stants of proportioIIality. In pmctiw, Cs arc injwtcd int,o t<hc nebula. Howwcr,
is -lo- when m, is mcasurrtl in solar whik this may chnngc slightly t,hc details
masses and r is talon to bc th(l pwihcGon of a given planc~tary syst,cm, th(k owrall
distanw of that plannt80ids orbit. An I~OrphOlOgy Of a SCt Of plan&My SyStCnlS
nlt~ctrnatc~form of t,hc tcmpwtturc~ distribu- dcriwd from similar initial condit,ioIis
tiou, I(r) a r-l, has hcw1 sllggc~stctl t,> wmains unchanged.
Lewis (1974). In t,his cnsc, w, 0: /s~-~!~. Whrn the radius of cztpturc of a growing
0nw the critical maw is warhcd, a plarwtl intrudes on that of an alrc~ady-
nuclrus will accwtc some gas along with the formed planet,, t,hc two coalcsw into :L nw
dust). As the mass incrcascs Ml furt,hw, :I body which ccjntinws to grow until complr-
larger fraction of t,hc gas pnwnt war thcb tion. Thr now wmimajor axis of the orbit.
nucl~~us will b(> captured, so that, in the of thcl componc~nt~ planet is talwn t,o tw
limit, of n wry large mass th(> net, drnsit>
o,:<= [ur, + 7172-J/[(nrl/a,) + (m/th)],
of captured mntcrial will bo p = Kp,,, Avhich
corrwponds to t,hc> captuw of all gas n~:n w ticw aI and a2 are thr scmimajor axw
thc nucleus. For intchrmcdintcx masws, thch of th(l two coalescing bodies, and ?.I and rn?
cffcctiw density of accwtwl ni:il tc>r is arc their massw. The valw n3 is th(k
tnlwrl to hi maximum nllowd from the conscrvnt,ion
01 wwrg~~. Th(b new ccccnt)ricity c:l is
PI, = Kp,i[l + (m./m)12(K - l)]--I,
wdculatcd front cr3 and the consrwnt~ic~n of
777 2 I)/,.,
angular momentum. Clearly, with no
nhich obeys t,hc conditions p,, = pCI jvhcn information about the poskion nnglcs of
m = m,. and p,, -+ Kp,, \vhcn rn, ---f = This the prwollision scmimajor axes of t,hc two
function is arbitrary and was w1rctc~c-l 1)). orbits, the> thrw-body prohlvm admits no
1~01~ primarily for its simplicity and it,s uniqw solution and so (within thcl confirms
correct behavior in th(l limits. A functional of t,hc conscrvntion law) the choiw of C(~
form which is more physically exact \vould and et1 is somc~what arbitrary. lh(t form
rquiro knowlcdgc of th(b structure of tht> givcw abow, howvw, is bot)h physicall~~
:w;rcting plawt and a dctailrtl dyn:mIical rc~alizablr and ~onvcwicwt.
analysis of t,hcb solar nebula, both oi \vhicti 9. A nuclrus Lvhich is injcctcld into :L
arc beyond the scope: of this trcatmcnt. region \vhich has already bc~w swcbpt frw
Howwc~r, the oxprcssion is probably at of dust 1Jy existing planets is a dud
lcast qualitativc~ly corrwt and impliw that and carrnot~ gro\v, sinw a nuclcws cannot8
the gwntcr t,h(b mass of th(b planc~t, the initially :w:umulatc~ gas. Thus, the progr:m1
grwtw the gas/dust ratio of th(s :wcwt& clnds wlwn all dust lwt\vcvn 0.3 and 50 Al!
111358. h:ts tw(w s\vcyt up. A typical run of the
8. The nucki arc irIjw;tt~tl sc~clwntially, program \vill cwt:til the injrction of 100 to
\vith the rwwwt nucleus growirq to ronlpl~- 300 rluclvi, most of which :trv duds. The
tion bcfow the wxt is irl,jc~ctc~d.The gro\vth simuhltions in this pnpcr rv(w run on the
of that nuclrus is cnlculatc~d it(~r:Ltiwly in II<;\1 370/168 at CorIwll Univwsity. The
th(J program, and complrtion is tlcfincd running tinw wwssary for th(> formation
as :I fr:rct,ionnl ni:Lss incrww on :i given of :I single I)l:mvtary system \vas of thv
 COMPUTER SIMULATIONS
order of 3 set, which (conveniently) is a
factor -lOI faster than the process being
simulated. The cost was roughly $1 per
solar system, or 10 cents per planet.
III. THE ACCRETION PROCESS
Most models of the solar nebula employ
a self-gravitating disk or exocone < 1 AU
thick and many astronomical units in
radius, with a total mass between 0.1 and
1.0 M,, exclusive of the mass of the Sun
itself. Goldreich and Ward (1973) have
hypothesized a disk some 1On cm thick.
As the nebula cools, the vapor pressures of
some of the constituents fall below their
partial prcssurcs, and the condensation of
small particles ensues. These particles then
fall towards the central plane of the disk,
accumulating matter as they fall from
viscous drag and collisions in the medium.
For -1 AU from the center of the disk,
this occurs on a time scale -10 yr and
leads to particles with masses of -100 g.
This mass is an upper limit, however,
being strongly dependent on the number
of nucleation sites, i.c., the number of
particles descending upon the central plane.
ACRETE, in injecting the nuclei sequen-
tially, assumes a number of sites -100,
as stated before. Hills (1973) suggests that
there were 100 major accretion sites before
mutual collisions led to fragmentation into
roughly lo3 nuclei. The precise number,
however, is of only marginal importance,
for the resultant disk of particles in the
central plane is gravitationally unstable
and will clump together to form fewer
prcplanctary accretion nuclei. This clump-
ing leads to the formation of planetesimals
with radii r - 5 km and masses m - 1Ol8 g
on a time scale of only a few thousand
years. These planetesimals are largely in
prograde orbits of near-zero inclination,
and account plausibly for the coplanar
nature of the solar system.
In another model, Cameron (1973) states
that turbulence in the solar nebula can
cause grains to aggregate into bodies of a
OF ACCRETION 515
few tens of centimeters in radius which can
then grow to lunar-sized planetesimals as
they descend to the central plane. As before,
the process takes only a few thousand years.
Once the preplanetary accretion nuclei
have settled into the central plant of the
nebula, their masses are much greater than
the masses of the ambient dust particles,
so that further growth will be dominated
by the gravitational capture mechanism.
Weidenschilling (1974) has pcrformcd a
straightforward analysis of this process and
concludes that, from accretion nuclei no
larger than 10e3 of a terrestrial planetary
mass, the solar system could bc formed in
about 10 yr.
The mass of the injection nuclei which
Dole used in ACRETE was m. = 10-l M,
- 10 g, coincidentally the same size as
the planctcsimals of Goldreich and Ward,
but a good deal smaller than Camcrons.
We find that varying the seed mass m. by
many orders of magnitude has absolutely
no cffcct on the final results, since the
amount of matter that the particle accretes
from the nebula on the first iteration is in
most cases vastly greater than its initial
mass. Thcreforc, m. = 10-l M, was used
in all subsequent runs. We can postulate a
model similar to Goldrcich and Wards
in which numerous bodies of mass 1018 g
arc created by local gravit,ational inst,a-
bilitirs and which subsequently grow via
accretion processes such as those built
into the computer program. Since the
program is insensitive to the initial mass of
the accretion nuclei the number of nuclea-
tion sites in the solar nebula becomes
unimportant. Numerous masses of lOI* g in
Keplerian orbits would eventually coalesce
into a smaller number of more massive
nuclei on which the accretion process would
continue as before.
Having established some theoretical basis
for the specific model on which program
ACRETE is constructed, mc proceed to
alter the individual parameters one at a
516 ISAACMAN ANI, SA(:AN

1973), wc find that th(l numlwr density of

grains is -l@ cn+, and that thrir radii
arc -3 x lO-; cm. The mass dtwit,y of
IV. K: THE (:AS-TO-I)IJST 51ASS RATIO
gas in m HI region is -2 X 10-22 g cr+,
In Iig. 3 arc displayed thrw model so that if UY assu111v unit mass drnsity for
planctnry systems gcncrntjcd with thcl ~YL~~I grain, \VV obtain K = 20. The value
canonical ACXETE program, but lvith for a n&ula of solar composition is - 100,
diffcrc:nt valuw of the: ratio of gas to dust. dcpcnding on th(k dcgrw of condensation,
As c~xpectc~d, dccrwsing th(l amount of gas Ijut, si11w K in th(l program is taken to 1~
in the cloud has no c~ffcct on thcw planets thcb ~nass ratio of hydrogen and helium to
which ncwr rwch their crit,ic:\l mass 711, all othclr suhstancw (rather than the,
and hcnw nw(lr :wcumul:~tc~ an>. g:ls in volatile : rc~frwtor~ ratio), this wn 1)~
the first plaw. This is app:wnt cqwcinll~~ twatrtl as an upper limit. Thus, I>olcs
for the casw Ii = 30 arid K = 10 in lvhich vulw of I< = 50 is wrtainly :tti acwpt~at~lc

thcl nuclri \wr( injcctcd into tlicl sam(~ OIW, sinw mw~ vuluc~s as lo\v as K = 10 in
orbits in th(l tuo casw. (The orbits arc ACIZETI~: yield plausihlc plswt,nry sgstcms.
dctcrmincd by n random number gcacxr:ltor : A n1orc comprchcnsivc model would
This is fed a swd uumlwr which causw the haw included t hc variation of K rvith 1.
gc~rwratiori of a random scriw.) I:or K = 30 J%wtuw the incid(>nw of c~olltl(~ris:itioll
and K = 10, the five plnncts \vhich did Irot, sh:uldincrcaw with drclining tcmpwatuw,
:iccumulnt,c gas (fillrd circles) undwn-wit no K should clcwc~aso with hc~liowntric: dis-
c:h:mgw in mass, \\hilc the gas giants (opcln tanw. Ho\\-wclr, \vo lwliwc that ;I slowl~~
c4rclw) art considwal)ly smnlkr in thtl varying K, or :i l,irnodnl distrihut ion of K
Inttclr ruli. An clxtclnsion of this wsult can iI1 \vliich tlic vnluw diffw by :L factor of 110
1)~ swn qualitat iwly in the K = 100 run, mow thm :dmut 4, \vill not, :tltcr our
\vliicli has 1~~0 wry Iargc gas gi:mts. rwults profciundly. We sw from tlw
What is n wasonnl)lc valw for KY Taking figures that tht> only pwwptibl(~ result of a
typical valws for HI rogious (Harwit, wrintioli of Ii 1)~. a fwtcjr of 5 is ;I cliungc~
 COMPUTER SIMULATIONS
in the prevalence of gas giants. A distance-
dependent K of the sort described would
probably have as its principal consequence
a small inward displacement of t,he region
of the Jovian planets.
V. THE CENTRAL DENSITY AND
THE PARAMETER B
Since an exponentially decreasing density
function leads to a total nebular mass which
is directly proportional to the density at
r = 0, changing the parameter A in t,he
expression Pd = A exp (-a@) is equivalent
to scaling the mass of the cloud. More
fundamental changes in the functional
form itself will be discussed in a later
section. This particular form was used by
Dole because it has the mathematically
desirable properties of being monotonically
decreasing with r and of being integrable
over a spherical or cylindrical volume ; and
because its use in program ACRETE leads
to the formation of planetary systems
resembling the solar system. To this latter
end, Dole used the values o( = 5 and
fi = $, which for the moment we adopt.
He employed the value 0.0015 MO/AU3
for 8, or roughly 1O-g g cm-3, which leads
to a total nebular mass of approximately
0.06 M, when the opening angle of the
exocone is taken to be ?r/2 so that the
cone is actually a sphere (see Appendix).
(This mass, as the low central density
indicates, is exclusive of the mass of the
central star.)
A mass of 0.06 M, is somewhat low
compared to that of most models. Urey
(1974), for example, derives a mass of 0.6
M,, although he refers to two other models
which call for nebular masses of 0.2 and
0.05 M,. ACRETE does not know
that some of the dust in the solar nebula is
left unaccreted. In the actual formation
process, it is possible that accretion onto
planetary bodies from the solar nebula is in
competition with a T Tauri solar wind
tending to sweep away material. Workers
concerned with the early stages of forma-
OF ACCRETION 517
tion of the solar nebula often quote values
of mass (exclusive of the mass of the
central star) of about 1 AT0 (e.g., Cameron,
1976). But we are concerned with the
values of solar nebula mass after the
generation of accretion nuclei ; in the
interim a substantial loss of nebular
material may have occurred, associated
with the T Tauri stage of the central star.
If wc find that only a small range of
nebular density is consistent with familiar
solar systems, it follows that such systems
are correspondingly uncommon. The rela-
tive timing of the generation of accretion
nuclei and the T Tauri stage of the ccnt,ral
star is an important and as yet unrcsolvcd
factor in understanding the origin of
planetary systems.
The results of decreasing the total mass
of the cloud by one-third (A = 0.001 MO/
AU3) and by two-thirds (A = 0.0005 M,/
AU3) arc shown in Fig. 4. In the latter case,
the density at every point in the nebula is
so low that only one planet is able to
accrcte enough dust to exceed its critical
mass and begin to accumulate gas. Only
two planets have masses greater than one
Earth mass. For the case A = 0.001 M,/
AU3 the accretion process is somewhat more
successful, although the resulting gas giants
are small compared to those in the solar
system.
For values of A > 0.0015 M0/AU3,
Dole has presented some results (Fig. 5).
Even a doubling of the total mass of the
cloud leads to a near-catastrophic accumu-
lation of gas by the large planets. Hydrogen
thermonuclear reactions occur in the core
of a star of mass 20.07 ill,, although
deuterium burning will have set in long
before that. Hence the planetary system
generated by A = 0.003 Ma/AU3 in Fig. 5
would quite likely be a borderline case of a
double-star system, while those generated
by A = 0.006 and A = 0.015 MO/AU3
would definitely be so. This is not neces-
arily a drawback to the model: The
statistical studies of Abt and Levy (1976)
51X ISAA(:MAN ANI) SA(;AN

suggcxt that virtually all stars arc conlpo-
wnts of multiple systems, two-t,hirds of
which include stellar companions and OIW-
t,hird, planetary companions. Hcnw the
t,cndency for our accwtion modcll t,o giw
riw to stellar or barely substcllar com-
panions to the central star mimics ~1similar
tcndcncy in n:Lturc, and the probability
of the exist,enw of nwrwrous c~xt~rasolar
plan&r.g syntwrs is corrcnpondi~igl~ high.
Thus for that numerical values and
functional forms choscn, planetary syst,cms
of roughly familiar aspect arc produced for
nc,bular maws (exclusive of the contra1
star) bctwcon about 0.02 and about 0.2 LIP,.
Systems with smaller nebular masses than
this \vill tend to bc comprised exclusively of
t,cwcstrial plawts and, eventually, of
asteroids only. Systems with larger nebula1
masws \vill wolvc with t,hc) lurgckst sccond-

FIG. 5. The effecl of increasing (,he wr1t~i~1 dellsily of Ihe cloud floln Doles value of 0.001.j
Mc:/AU3. III the pathological systenl (d), the sum of 1.1~ mtsses of t.he bodies slightly exceeds
t.he origin;~l ma.ss of the nebula.
 COMPUTER SIMULATIONS
ary components undergoing thermonuclear
reactions, and therefore will become double-
or multiple-star systems. In this case there
will also be terrestrial and Jovian planets
produced, some of which will be in orbits
gravitationally unstable according to the
restricted three-body problem. But others
will be in one of the three categories of
reasonably stable orbits : around the center
of mass of the system if the two stellar
components have a small separation ;
around one or the other of the individual
stars if the two components have a large
separation ; and in a figure-8 trajectory
around both components, though this is
unstable in the long term.
It is necessary to note, as Dolt points
out, that the generation of multiple-star
systems pushes program ACRETE some-
what beyond the limits of its intended
application (which for Dole was the simula-
tion of planetary systems similar to our
own). When planet formation gives way to
star formation, ACRETE breaks down in
the sense that the total mass of the compan-
ions can exceed the intended mass of the
original nebula. This effect can be seen in
Fig. 5d, in which the mass of the com-
panions comes to 0.61 M,, as compared
with a nebular mass of 0.58 M, (derived
from a central density of 0.015 M./AU3
and Doles radial density distribution).
We will refer to such a breadkown of
ACRETE as a pathological multiple-star
system. It arises from the breakdown of the
approximation p(r - b,) = ~(r + b,) (see
Section VII) when an accrcting body
becomes very massive.
VI. THE ORBITAL ECCENTRICITY OF THE
DUST PARTICLES: e
In ACRETE, the accretion nuclei are
assumed to capture all of those dust
particles whose orbits cross their own. If a
nucleus is injected with a high orbital
eccentricity, it will, of course, cross the
orbits of more dust particles, hence accu-
mulate more of them and end up corre-
OF ACCRETION 519
spondingly more massive. Similarly, if the
orbital eccentricities of the dust particles
are high, then a given dust particle is more
likely to cross the path of some ~mclcus.
Thus, more eccentric particle orbits should
give rise to more massive planets and, as a
corollary, fewer planets in a given planetary
system (since fewer nuclei are required to
sweep up all of the dust). The results of
varying c, the eccentricity of the dust
particles in the solar nebula, between
E = 0.1 and e = 0.5 are shown in Figs. G
and 7. The results are as expected: A
typical c = 0.5 run yielded 6 planets,
three of which arc quite large, while an
c = 0.1 run yielded 15 relatively small
bodies. Curiously, for values of t 5 0.3,
the effect is nearly linear (Fig. 8) within
the limits of uncertainty caused by the
random injection of the nuclei (t = 0.1
planetary systems will generltlly have 14,
15, or 16 planets, etc.). The function, of
course, must level off to N = 1, since for
the limiting case e ---f 1.0 the dust particles
will have near-parabolic orbits, all of which
will cross the orbit of and hence be accreted
onto the first nucleus injected, leading to a
double-star system for all reasonable values
of the nebular mass.
We have argued in Section II, however,
that frequent collisions in the early nebula
would lead to a circularization of the
orbits of accretion nuclei. This should
apply to the dust particles as well, so that it
is interesting that the program works
best (in the sense of generating planetary
systems similar to the solar system) when
e = 0.25, which is a rather high value.
Values of 6 more in accord with what we
would expect in the nebula (say E 5 0.1)
lead to an inefficient accretion process when
inserted into ACRETE (Figs. 7b and c).
We have attempted to counteract this
effect by trying lower values of t and
increasing the mass of the cloud (by
increasing the central density) to corn--
pensate. The results are shown in Fig. 9,
in which all three systems were generated
with th(i smw rnttdom ttutttlw scyu~trc~. condition \vas shcnv~t carlkr to give rise to
l~igurc 9a shoxvs a rutt of ACltKIE nith :I sgstctri of lxtwly substcllnr cotiipattiotis
l)ol~s paratttctcrs : 4 = 0.0015 illG/ALJ3 \vhtt t = 0.25, :LS sltowtt in Fig. 511. Now
attd c = 0.25. In Iig. 91), .I = 0.003 dl o/ tlic :tccrc~tioti process has ttotj run away as
AU :ttttl 6 = 0.1, so that t1w 111:Lss of th dratnaticttlly ; the> lwypt gas giant is otil?
cloud is now :I/,. _?i 0.12 sin R,,,:,, 1110. This s(ww titrws the mtss of .Jupitw.

t=0,5
(b)
 COMPUTER SIMULATIONS OF ACCRETION

z 7-
% -

5 5-
t _

3-
1 :

i-
I I I I I I I
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 d5 0.6 0.7 0.6
Eccentruty E

FIG. 8. Average number of planets N generated by ACRRTE as a function of B, the orbital

eccentricity of dust, particles in the solar nebula. For e ,< 0.3, the effect is nearly linear.

427
(a)
A=0.0015 039 II- 01
<=0.25

FIG. 0. Compensation for the inefficiency of the accretion process associated wit$h small values
of E by increasing the mass of the nebula, proportional to A. Although the results illustrated
in (b) compare favorably with the system shown in Fig. 5b, the central density A cannot be
increased much beyond the value 0.00375 Mo/AU3, as shown in (c), without generating binary-
star systems.
522 ISAACMAN ANI) SAGAN

The c+fvct, of lowering t still furt,ltcr 1)~ Ilear r u 5.8 ill, i.e., not, very far from
another factor of 5, t>o c = 0.02, and .Jupiters orbit. Thus, WC)can move the posi-
increasing A again by only 25% (to tion of the largest, planets by altering t,hc
L/l = 0.00375 M,/AUY) is illustratc~d in value of 01. Large values of O( will make the
Fig. 9c. The mass of the largest companion exponential drop off faster, so that distant
has increased by 50%, to 0.01 fll 0. Clearly, planets become smaller as the maximum of
w( have pushed il almost to thcl lintit,; rp moves inward.
dccrcasing e to 0 and increasing R 1nuc11 The assumption of a solar nebula with a
further will lead to a binary-star systcltn. density maximum at -10 AlJ is supported
With nebular masses of the order of by the frequency histogram of srltarations
0.1 M, an ccccntricity of dust, orbits of of double-star systrms (Kuipc~r, 1951)
roughly 0.15 seems to product rccognizablc \vhich is also pcaltcd near 10 AU. This is
planct8ary systems. Both valurs scctn t0 in rcasottablc accord with the implication
1~ itt roasonablc conformity \vith our of progratn ACltF:TE that) in matty cas(s
r~xpcctations for the solar nebula. Wc also the fortn:itioti of double stars is ducb t,o the
note that tltc ntcan ccccntricity of thcx ~ottdctisation of a particularly ntassivcb
asteroids is t v 0.15. Howcvcr, because: tltr> .Joviatt plattctt front a solar nebula. If \v(:
accretion process as simulated in ACRETE are to preserve the total tnass of tlttt nebula
produces familiar solar systcnis \vhcii as a is ittcrcbascd wc must, ittcrcasck that vuluc
t = 0.25 for rl = 0.0015 /iI O/AIJ, sub- of il. If wo ta1;c an oxocoll( of nttglr

soqucnt computer runs will for cottv(~ttiettc~~ 8 =7r/2, kc., a sphcrc>, then for a density
use that value, as wc vary other parameters. distribution with form A md ,b = 5, the
Finally, \vc note that the dcvcloptiir~tit of total mass of the cloud is (sccl Appendix)
(Jrbibd ecccntricitics is a dynamic procc%s Al,. = 483 8407rkil/cu M,. Icor K = 50,
associated with the cumulative effects of ~1 = 0.0015 M,/AI, and LY= 5, this
gravitational pr,rturbatiotts as the ttcbula bccomcs M, Z 0.00 A/0. If wc keep K = 50
is dcplctcd. Since: ACRETEs orbits are and lvish to preserve M, 31 0.06 .dl 0, thcltt
ittitially cccetttric, this important earl) the rclatiott bctwcctt ~1 and Q is 11 = a/
stage of solar system formatiott is litarc (1.3 + 109) d/,/AI?. The rcsult,s of vary-
urtrc~alist~ically modclcd. ing LY(and A Jvith a) arc sho\vtt in Fig. 10.
For small values of LY,more planets would
VII. hfOI>IFICATIONS TO THB: DENSITY INI formed at r >> 50 AU if the program
1 )ISTRII3IJTION
w(arc allowc~d to inject accrek)tt nuclei out
Thct mass dcttsit,y as a function of that far. Icor (Y = 1, for ~~xantpl~~, .Joviatt
hcliocontric distanctr is a critical attributo planets would b(> fortmId tt(ar 700 Al;.
of any model of t,hc solar ttcbula. The It is apparc~ttt t,hat, alt,liough in principlt:
functional form of the density which Dolt an c~xpotic~tttiully dccrcasittg drttsity dis-
used in ACRETE is p(t = n exp( -ot~~), tribution is rcasottabk, the particular form
with A and LYas free paramet,ers. More gen- oxp ( -c&~) is quik arbitrary and f ,ttly
erally, we may use the form (which wo will srrv(ls well for valucas of o( not vary diffcrc,nt
~11 form A) pci = A exp ( - arB), and t,rcat @ front 5. This form \sas used in the, first
as :I free parameter as well. The mass which placr bocausc~ of its pleasing tc~ttdc~ttcy to
a nucleus at radial distance r will accumu- producct familiar cbtid results. In fact.,
late is roughly proportional t,o rp. For form howcvcr, it falls off much ntorc rapidly
A, with p = +, this reaches a maximum than most, othc,r thc~orctical tttod(als, dc-
when the r derivative of rp,, vanishes, i.e., c*rcaasitig t.0 l$$ of the central density at
whc11 r,,, = (9,fa)a. Dolt used t,hc valuc~ only 0.78 Al: (just outsidt the orbit of
(Y = 5, which leads to t,hcl largest plant+ VCIIUS). This ittdicatcs that, for such a
 COMPUTER SIMULATIONS OF ACCRETION 523

(f)
Cl =6.5

10

FIG. 10. Systems generated by ACRETE by varying the steepness with which the density
profile falls off. (2 is the parameter in the expression Ed = 0.0015 exp( -(YW). In cases (a), (b),
and (c), more planets with orbital semimajor axes r > 50 would be formed if injected accre-
tion nuclei were allowed out that far.

model, planetary formation takes place at by such a distribution to the pressure

a very late stage in the condensation of the
nebula.
Heppenheimer (1974) has managed to
find a meeting point between Cameron and
Pines models and a density distribution of
form A by matching the pressure implied
obtained by Cameron and Pine (their Fig.
2). If we assume that the nebular material
obeys the ideal gas law, Larsons (1969)
adiabat gives p a p1/3. Hence Heppen-
heimer fits the relation p = p. exp[ - (5/3)
c&] to the pressure curve of Cameron
54 ISAACMAN ANI) SAGAN

It is nonethclcss striking that) to fairly

snmll change in the qualitative brhavior
of p should lcad to such violent changes in
the rwults, wpccially in light of the fact,
,(A(:) esp ( - *W) fxp(-4.4r)
Glut the form cxp( -4.5~~9, \vhich is
0. 1 9.82 x lo- 7.00 X IO- w~vl more similar to HcppoIrhciIllc~rs wsulf,
1 6.73 x 1OF I .2:i x IOF gives rise to :I conifort~ably furniliar plan&
2 1.84 x IV: .i.!).i
x lo-: :try system (SW Icig. 1Od).
10 2. IO x lo- (i.74 x lo-
A more conlplicntc~d aspwf of t,hc t)nt,irc
20 1.2x x lo- 2.02 x IO-
:<.0:3x 10-j prol~lctn, :LIK~01w which wits not talwri irito
50 I .oo x 10-h
:iccount, at, all in tllcs original wrsion of
XCliI~TlS, is the variation of wbulsr
and liw arid finds (Y = 4.4 and $ = 0.22. dmsity \\-ith x, the> tlist:inctL 1wrpc~r~dic:ulnr
The lllLLSSof thcl n&ul:L tllcll t,c~oIllcY t 0 the 1kmt~ of syn~nwtry. Sinccb in gcw~ral
tlic> 1)roto1)lanc~t~ar~ orbits mill haw sonic
:I/,. = 1.18 X 104 L,t sin O,,,,,, .I/ (,.
nonewo inclin:ktion t,c)the wntral plancb, tlic>
In thv nudcl of Cmlero~~ and lirw, that 111ass accwtcd on cm&h orbit \\-ill then
n&ula has roughly the vxo~o11~~ gco~llc~try, lx, dctcmninc\d by the rwbulnr surfam,
m?tmha scmithickrwss of approxinmtc~ly 1 AU dcwsity at, appropriut,c h(~liowntric distnncc.
ntf about, 50 AU from thr wntcir. Hcwcr: ACILl~~Tl~~, howcvc~r, :munws orbits wit,11
O,,,:,, v 0.02, leading to ill, v 23k.2 AI0 for zero inclination so that the only accwtcd
ii givcw in !lZ,~AU~. If, to retain con- mntcrial is that within thcx toroid (shcmm in
sistcucg xvitli othrr niodcls, \v(k dc~lllitnd mm swtion iu Fig. 11) dcfiwd I,g the
111, = 0.1 ill o, \\( find ;I = 4.2 X 1W4 orlGtn1 ewcntricitiw of the accretion uuclci
!I/ (JAU. :intl dust particks :md tlicl gravit~ational
I<uming ACIII+XE with the 1m:rnwtc~rs cross wction of thch nucleus. Tll(~ volumc~ of
a = 4.4, @ = 0.22, and A = 4.2 X 1W4 tlw toroid is :ipproximatcly L = 27rr(b, + b,,)
lwds to it pathological nlultiplc-star systcxm. (xa + .r,,), I\-hew x,, arid d,,arc tlio gmvita-
Clearly, this sanw result will owur if -1 is tional c:rpturc~ distanws at :tphelion :md
incrcnwd to 0.0015 ill o/AC, in which caw
pc~rihelioli (we Srction II), :ind h,, and O,,
all of t,hcb paranwtcrs will 1x1 idcatiwl to
include the cblfccts of the dusts orl)it:ll
thaw used by I>ok cwx~pt for 6, \vhicli
cwcbntrit*ity. If t lit, tlclnsity tloc~s r/o! vary
will tw 0.22 instwd of 0.33. Thtx c~ompanion
star, then, forms w:lr that vclgc of tllo out of tlw pl:uw, mtl if p(r - b,,)=p (1. + /L),
rwhula ; Talk I irldicatw that it. is that thci 11litss of dust mitliill tlics t oroicl is
nl( )rt\ gradual dvcrcasc in t hc f (mner wsv Jl,, e 27rr(b,, + h,,)(.r, + .r,,)p,,(r), :I formu-
th:lt is musing t,hcl difficulty. lation cm~ploytxl l,y l)oI~~.
 COMPUTER SIMULATIONS OF ACCRETION 525

From studies of a self-gravitating set of nebular masses. Consider an cxoconc of

mass points, originally due to Ledoux and radius R and opening angle 8,,,,, in which
to Chandrasekhar, Urey (1974) argues the only density variation is radial, p(r).
that the vertical variation takes the form Then the mass of the cloud is

&-, Z) = P(r) sech2 [z/H(r)], R

Al c,Dole -4s
- r2p(r) sin emax&.
where H(r) is some radially dependent s 0
characteristic vertical scale height. In this
case, the mass of the dust within the toroid Ureys nebula has a vertical density
becomes distribution as well, and has cylindrical
Ill geometry which we will characterize by
Md v 27rr(ba + 0,) sech2[z&/H (r)] some thickness h. Then the mass becomes
[S 0
R h
IP

1
114o,Urey -27r
- TP (4
+ sech2[zclz/H (r)] ad (r, 0), ss0

=
-h
s 0

X sech2 (.z/yr)drdz,
27rr(b, + D,)H(r) (tanh [xJH(r)]
where yr = 0.00267r = H(T). If we let
h >> yr (true for h >, 0.25 AU) we can, to
which approaches Doles form in the limit good approximation, extend the limits on
s,,JH(T) + 0. Urey finds (his Table III) the z integral to f 00 and integrate to get
that H(r) = 0.00267r AU, for r measured
R
in astronomical units. For a planet of mass
Af e.Urey -- 47r yr2p(r)dr
m with a circular orbit, we have xa,JH .I 0
= 374 (m/Mo)1144 so that tanh (x,/H)
will differ appreciably from its argument so that M c,~rey/Mr,~ok = y/sin 0,,,,,. In
(and thcrcfore depart, from Dolts limiting Cameron and Pines nebula, 0,,,, N 0.02,
cast) whenever m 2 lo- M,. Since this so that if we were to apply this opening
1s < 1OF the mass of the NIoon, we can angle to Dolts cxoconc, wc could get
conclude that, for every case of interest, M c,~rey/Me,~ole - 0.1. For a complete
Ureys vertical density distribution will sphere, the ratio becomes 2 X 10P3. Thus,
lead to results substantially different from for identical radial density distributions,
Doles vertically uniform model. Ureys model leads to nebular masses much
A sech2z vertical decrease in density is smaller than Doles.
faster than exponential. Ureys nebula, In principle the masses of the two models
therefore, is much thinner than Dolts could be reconciled by either increasing
A characteristic scale height of 0.00267r the central density in Ureys model or
leads to a semithickness of roughly 0.1 AU inserting a radial density function that is
at r = 50 AU, or about one order of less steep than Doles. WC have simulated
magnitude thinner than the nebular model a sech2 (x/yr) dependence in the vertical
of Cameron and Pine. Hills (1973) also direction by modifying the mass contained
concludes that the scale height for gas and in a toroidal volume in the fashion derived
dust in the solar nebula is very small: earlier. Using a radial density function of
roughly 0.1~ AU for Hz gas and 10-3r AU form A with a = 5, /3 = $ (Doles values),
for dust. For models which arc so concen- and a central density increased by an
trated into the central plane, however, order of magnitude from Doles value (to
radial density distributions as steep as 0.015 M,/AU3), ACRETE consistently
Doles (see Table I) lead to very low generates pathological multiple-star sys-
520 ISAACMAN ANI) SACiAN

tcbms. NoIlpatlloloRicnl systems arc gctn- just another niunif~~station of form A, with
cratc~d with arty dcgrcc of rqularity only /3 = 1. Sincch form A contains rfi, NY SW
n-hew the central density bccon~s p,, that, hecausc 1 > a, p will now fall oft more
5 O.OOci A1,/AUZ. This implies that quickly than in Dolt~s form. Various radial
scale lengths and ccnt,ral dcnsitics w(Lrc
LM,.,,,,,,,. = 0.23 sin O,,,,, :I/ a, tried, with t)hc most succc~ss in gc~ncrating
11/,.,-r<,>= 6 x 10-4 M,, planetary systems ()bt,ainc~d with scale
lengths of -0.4 f 0.1 AU. Thcl rclsults of
which arc unrealistically lo\\-for rensonahlr the dcnsit,y fun&ions
values of 0. Thr failure> of ACRETE t,o
generate recognizable solar systems with
plausible vertical density distSributions must ant1
bc interpreted as evidenre cit,hcr (1) for
a uniform p(z) nebula, or (2) for the cxclu- p(r., z) = 0.002ec2 wcli2 (z/-q)ill,/hU~~
sion of some pertinent physics from the (for r in :rst,ronomical units) art1 show11 in
computer model. It seems clear that, a vcrti- Figs. 121) and c. The masses of thcl n(9mla(~
cal distribution will exist in a rotating prt- in thcsc C:ISW arc 1OF jr,, and arc kqt
planetary nebula and that, the accretion dclibcratcly low bccauso of a propcnsit)
nuclei, like the planets, will travel in orbits for this form of thcl density dist,rihution to
with nonzcro inclination. The importance gcncratc~ pathological multiple-star systems.
of the surface density (as opposed to the Removing the vcrt,ical density dcpcndcnw
vertical and radial volume dcnsiGcs) arises pow 1101 help; tlicl rc,sultant incrcascx in
from these conditions, but is overlooked in mass conccwtratod int,o the irmcr rqion of
t,ht: computer program in t,lic assumption of the> nc+ula only clxaggc>ratc,s the tcwdtwqr
pcrfrctly c*opl:mar orbits. townrds pathological rwulb.
Another olkous form to try is a poivcr
VIII. TIlIt ARBITRARY NATCHIC OP p(p)
la\\., p(r) cc I_, \vhcrcs 71 > 0. This form
A rigorous d(>rivat,ion of tlrc> radial has th(l disadvantagc of diverging at zero,
dclnsity distribution rrquirc,s a drtailcd although t,his is clearly not a problt~m
knowlrdgc of the equation of state at) all physically, sinccb WC arc only intorcstcd in
points in thcl cloud, a trc~atjmcnt I\-hich is the nebula at, r 2 0.1 AtT. For th(b form to
well beyond t,hr scopc~ of this paper, and, b(h intc~grablc, WC furtjhc~r rcquirc that, II bc
apparently, many ot,hcrs. Numerous as- grcatcxr than 2 in a strirt,ly cylindrical
sumptions, including consideration of thr, nebula and H bc grcatjor than 3 in a spherical
ambicnt~ magnetic field and thr solar wind. 01i( (altl~ougli this is not a rigid rclstriction
rlntc>r into tht> problem, and thcl final sinccb th(l nc+ula has a firiitcl tliamct or).
results must bc strongly Inodcl-dcl)crltl(lIlt. WC can deal in ariothc~r \vay I\-ith the
A11.y formulation of tht> density function tlivcqcncc~ at small r with the: following
in the cloud must at, prcxscnt bcl, to a certain col her: argunic~rit, : Alost models of thcb
(>xt(lnt, arbitrary, so that it) is pclrhaps the format~ion of thr solar systwn suggcbst that
safest, course to choose ow which is char- the young Sun was in a T Tauri stag(b
ac+rizcd solely by physically rc~asonabh~ during th(, clpoch of planc~tnry formation.
clualit,ntivc~ at,tributchs. This is cssc~nt~iall> Thc~ T Tauri solar \vind would consid(~rably
what I;rcsy, I>ol(~, Cameron, and Iino all clcpl&c~ tlic intc>rior portion of thcl nc+ula of
did, and what \vc shall procwd to do. l)otli rcxfractor! and gast7)us matc~rial.
011~ of thrt most obvious forms to try, l~;vidcncc~ for the size of a dcplctc4 wgion is
btcausc~ of its simplicity and \\-id(, applic- suggc~stc~tl 1)~ rcwnt okrvntions of th(b
aljility, is a sinlpl(b c~s~~~11~~111ial. This is T Tauri star I<[ I,upi by (Lhm d ai.

I I I111111
0.1
FIG. 12. The effect of including Ureys sech*z vertical densiB profile. Figure (a) was gen-
erated by the insertion of 0.0015 exp(-5G).
simple exponential radial density profile, with scale length of ) and + AU, respectively.
(1975), who found concentrations of dust,
presumably driven out by the stellar wind,
at distances of a few tenths of an astronom-
ical unit from the star. We therefore choose
to modify our power law distribution so that
it reflects some flattening of the mass
density function in regions close to the
star. This we refer to as form B: p(r)
= pl(rn + C)-I, where C is some dimen-
sionlcss constant and r is measured in astro-
nomical units. p(r) approaches the simple
power law r-* when r >> Cl. For a given n,
we can solve for p1 and C by demanding a
particular central density p. = pi/C and a
particular nebular mass, which for Doles
exocone is
R
M c.Dole = 47rKp1 [r2dr/(rn
/0
X sin t?,,., Mo
if pi/C is the central value of pd(r) and R
is the radius, in the symmetry plane, of the
nebula. From the arguments given earlier,
when one includes the sech? vertical distri-
527
I I I Illlll I I I Illll
1 10 0
(I..
Figures (b) and (c) were obtained by using a
bution the mass becomes approximately
A4c.urey -A4
- c.DoleY/sin t&x,
where y = 0.00267. M, is evaluated for
various values of n in the Appendix.
Note that for any density distribution of
form B, the function r3p reaches a maximum
at r, = (3C/n - 3)ln. As stated earl&,
rm represents the distance at which the
largest planets in the system will tend to
form.
If we choose to simulate IJreys r-3
density function with the T Tauri modifica-
tion, wc must decide on R, since, with an
infinite upper limit, r2(r3 + C)-l is not
integrable. Taking R = 70 AU and, as
before, K = 50, the mass becomes
+ C)] M c,Dole = 67Pp11n (1+70C-1/3)sin 8,,,,M,.
Letting 0 mav = r/2, the conditions hfo,Doke
= 0.06 M, and p1 = pa/C = 0.0015 Ad,/
AU3 yield the approximate solution
pd(r) = 5 X 10-5/(r3 + 0.032) M,/AU3.
The distribution remains fairly flat out to
r - 0.0321j3 1~ 0.3 AU. A planetary system
52x

FIG. 13. Planetary syst.ems obtained with radial densit,y dist ribut.ions different, from ntl expo-
nelltial. Fignre (a) was derived for t,hc form p,, = p,(r + ()-I, Fig. (b) for p,, = pl(rF + C)-1,
where p, atld C are const.an1.s. Figrlre Cc-)shows t,hc solar syskrn.

gc~nerntrd by ACRETE with this density ill,, and p,j = ,Q,~C = 0.0015 dl,/A17, as
distribution is shown in Fig. 13:~ Two of in th(> II = 3 caw, the density lwcomcs
the planets arc wry large, but, arc still
&I(V) = 2 x lo-/(P + 0.014) III ./AU,
suhstcllar (the largest is 10 t,imrs the mass
of ,Jupitcr). Kotje, howewr, that for 11 = 3, Kow rRp wachrs a maximum at,
+p has no maximum at, a finite, v,,,; in
I,,, = (0.052/3) - 0.5 AI:,
models of this typcl, the largest plan&s will
out to which distance p is flat,. The rwult of
this distribution is shown in Icig. 131). Gas
If \w inswt the swh% vertical distribu- giants can only form close to t,ht> Sun,
tion, a tcwdcncy t,owards pat hological follo\wd by tcrrcstrial planc>ts and ast~(r-
multiplc-star systems devctlops. As befow, aids, moving outward. That such a planct-
we can combat this only by lo\\-cring thr 2Lr.v system can form at all is highl>
total mass of t,hc cloud by a factor that qucst~ionablc ; th inner tcrr&rial plawt,s
inhibits the formation of gas giants. The might not have st(ablr orbits, and both
rrsuhant plawtjary systems, gcwclrat cd tho T Taut? wind and qJr:ms cscapc wc~uld
\Vll1~11 A/ <:,lTrrry - 1OF jll o, rcscmhlc the innlw thv accretion of largct amounts of gas
system in Iig. 1Oa. by a plnnct so closc~ t)o the Sun unlikely.
Th(l choir of 71 is arbitrary and is open Introducing thch vwtical dwsity function
to considcrablc clxJ)clrimc~nt:ttiorl. Whew wuscs the, s:un( problwns as lwfow. A IOU-
)I = 0, for vxampk, tlw nuss intc~gral cloud mass pwmits thcl formatio1l of
j4dds th rwult tcwwtrial plxwts claw to thca Sun, but,
oth(77\\-iw g:w giants turn into stellar
ill,.,*l,,lf. E (27?,/3) (Kp,Cp!2) sin O,,,;,,.
c~ompanions.
In this ~:tstk, the integral conwrgw as I;inally, \VV Ilotcs that J,arsons adiab:Lt.
R + =. Taking O,,,:,, = r/2, M,.,II,,I,, = 0.06 suggwts a l)o\Vclr la\V. If 7(r) 0: pzia :mcl
 COMPUTER SIMULATIONS OF ACCRETION 529

we use the simple temperature law men-
tioned earlier, T(r) m r-12, we obtain
P (r) a r-34. If T(r) QI r-1, p(r) 0: r-32.
Such extremely shallow distributions, how-
ever, generate only pathological systems.
IX. PLANETARY DISTANCES
The geometric spacing of the planets in
the solar system is one of its most striking
properties, represented by a number of
formal schemes, the most famous of which
is the so-called Titius-Bode law, in
which the semimajor axes of planetary
orbits in astronomical units are written
r = 0.4 + 0.3 X 2. The value - 00 must
be assigned to n in order to explain Mcr-
cury; thereafter, integer values are adopted
beginning with 0. It is then necessary to
identify Ceres as a planet. Even so the
values for n = 7 (Neptune) and n = 8
(Pluto) are in unsatisfactory agreement
with the observations. Thus Bodes law can
be described as a fit to eight numbers by an
equation with five or six free parameters or
arbitrary indexing conventions-not a very
impressive law.
Dcrmott (1968), however, has proposed
a simple, quasigeometric form which de-
scribes adequately the spacing of satellites
around some of the major planets and
meets with modcrate success when applied
to the solar system as a whole. If P, is
taken to be a constant of proportionality
then the periods of the planets can be
exprcsscd approximately as P, = P,jn'z, absorbed into C,). Values of j, C,, N,,,
where j is a small integer (j = G for the
solar system) and n is a given planets the systems generated in this paper arc
orbital integer, generally about the same
as its serial position outward from the Sun.
Differences between n and the serial posi-
tion arise becasuse Dermott allows that
two planets can share the same value of n
and furthermore that all values of n in a
sequence need not be used. For the solar
system, both Earth and Venus are in the
n = 2 orbital, and both Neptune and
Pluto share the value n = 8. The advantage
of this law over Bodes is that the
relationship between P, and n. can be
graphed as a straight line semilogarithmic-
ally ; in light of the amount of freedom in
the choice of P,, j,and the ns, however,
it is probably no less arbitrary.
A measure of the adequacy of the
relation, used in part by Dcrmott, can bc
made by comparing the ns to the ms in
the equation P, = P,jm12:Here, the P,
values rcprcsent the actual periods of the
planets, and m takes on any values (not
necessarily integer) to ensure that such
is the case. Taking Dermotts quantity
An = m - n, we define the quantity
u = [lV,-l2 (An)2]12 : the rms derivation
from the law per planet when N1, is the
number of planets in the system.
In order to compare our simulated
planetary systems against Dermotts law,
we rcformulatc the latter as a, = Cajnii,
using Keplers third law to utilize t)he
orbital semimajor axes a, rather than t,he
periods (all appropriate constants arc now
and u for the solar system and for some of

TABLE II
FITS OF RBXL AND MODEL SOL.W SYSTEMSTO A MODIFIED DIGLMOTTRELATION

System NJ, C, (AU) j m Commenk

-
Solar system 10 0.263 6 0.217 Includes Ceres
Solar sysLem 10 0.230 6.5 0.169 22cj, improvement in (r
Fig. 6a 6 0.185 8 0.195 Form A
Fig. 12a 11 0.236 4 0.174 sech? vertical distribution
Fig. 13a 8 0.235 7 0.134 P(r) 0: l/P + C)
530 TSAA(:MAN ANI) SA(:AN

sho\\;n in Tnblc II. Note that allowing :t from ttw infall or tnattw in dt,bris rings in
half-integer value of j (6.5) for the solar the vicinity of forming plawts.
system results in a significant impr~jvrmc~nt
in u over the integral case ; this swws to X. CONCLUSIONS
illustrate the somewhat arbitrary nature The original results of I>olrs program
of the procedure. It must also be tx~rttc in arc so provocative that it is natural to
mind that cwn for randomly distributrd question whether the rcmarkablc planctaq
values of m and 11, the mms valuc~ of A,/ is systems gencratcd by ACRETE arc the>
$(3l*) = 0.289. Since n is rwarly half this wsults of careful tailoring of the assumed
value in cwn the best, case, it is npparcnt radial and wrtical dcnsit)y dist,ributions
t,hat, our model planetary systems follow a in tho solar nebula and the accompanying
Bode-t)ypc law about as wctl as ttw solm frw param&rs ; or whcth(lr they nrr
system. propcrt,ics of any rcasonablc srt of assump-
The agrcrmcnt of 13odc-typca la\vs \vit,h tions about the solar ~wbula. WC haw
our model solar systems ww1 in such confirmed that for a perhaps plausible
bizarre caws as, say, Fig. 12a or 134 is
density law (form radial
A) and thr
of SOIYW intcwst. It cannot l)(h duct to
arbitrary choirs o( = 5 and @ = 0.33
multiple rwonanccs in the ebody probl~~m rc~ccjgnizablc plantkwy sysktns of solar-
as proposed 1~s Molchanov (1968) t~c~cuusc~ syskm t ypc arr gcwcratcld for rwbular
the appropriak physics is not contaitwd masses brt\\-wn 0.02 and about, 0.2 M,
in t~hr computer simulations. [Sco also and dust grain orbital ccccwtricitirs not,
other criticisms and h2olchanovs rrpl), : c,xt,wnwly high or c,xtrcmcly l(J\v. Howwcr,
13achs (1969), Hcnorl (19C,9), Rlolchn~~ov
in Sccticjn VII wo found that an apparcwtl~
(19G9a,b), Gingcrich (1969), l)c~rmott~ small chxngc from p = 0.33 to B = 0.22
(19G9).] lcads t,o a st#riking change in t,hc end
Instead, what clcarlg swms to bcl happcn- product. It, is, of roursc, possible t,hat a
ing is a kind of collisional natural wlcction. corwct, rcwlnstruction of th(b underlying
Thr solar system begins with gas, accwtion physics of the solar ncbuln \vill yield vuluw
nuclei, and dust grains, and :L variety of
of 0 war 0.33 and dcnsit,y distribut,ions like,
orbital ccccntricitics and heliorc~ntric dis- form 4. But in the abwncc ol such :I
t,anws. But bccauw of the high sticking justification \v( can only eonctudc cithclr
cficicncy in nucleus-grain and nucleus- (a) that RCILETI+Z is missing somr of t tw
nucleus collisions, those accrc6ng planets cssrwtial physics of solar xystcm cos~r~ogo~t~,
with interacting orbits mcrgc. In all caws or (b) that, platwtary systems of our type
t,hc final configuration shows pl:incQ nicc4) arc only 011~~ ~~xamplc in a rich array of
wparatcd one from another. lkcauw IargcbI altc~rnat~ivc varict,icw of planetary systcwls.
quantities of mass arc rcquiwd to gcwratc~ I,itwwiw, mow fundamcwtal chxngcs in the*
t tic> Jovian plan&s, t1lc.y arc rquiwd to nclbulnr mc,rpliology, c.g., front an vxpo-
s\\wp up larger volunws of dust atld nwtial to a power law dwsit), distribution
thwcforc~ haw larger mutual wparat ions function, gwcriLt(h plancktry systems solw
than do t,hr kwcstrial planc+s. I~cw~usc~ of \vliicsti, :~lthougl~ t,11c,y d() Ilot> clowl>
t,ticw wow thaw more: ohjwt s otl illor( wwnibl(~ our 0~~11, :Lr( riot, futld:~mc~~rt:tll~
wwntric orbits in a tinw twfow t1w ol~,ic~~tio~i:~t~l~~
(ligs. 12 and 13).
compl(>tion of this collision:~l natural sc~lw- i\bt and I,ovp (1976) h:ivt> found that t,h(>
tiori, tlicb r:ltc, of planct:try collision vcq frcqwnc~y of wcondary ni:wsw for bitiariw
earl>, in the history of th(> solar systtw~ \vit,li lwriods 0I Iws than n wntury varies as
I~:L~~ haw bccw cwrrsid~~rnt~lt~,quite :qJ:irt t tic onet trirtl po\v(r III tlics scwJndnr>~ mass.
 COMPUTER SIMULATIONS
If this function can be extrapolated, it
implies that about 20% of stars of solar
mass have a largest companion of mass
-10-t M, and about 10% of stars of
solar mass have a largest companion of
mass - 1O-3 M,. In at least a crude way
this result is consistent with our findings:
Where the solar nebular mass is between
about 1 M, and 10-l M, binary stars
form, while for smaller solar nebular masses
during accretion, Jovian planets form.
(This is a model-dependent consistency,
however, because Abt and Levy believe
that the short-period binaries are fission
systems from a single protostar.)
Perhaps the most striking result of this
exercise is that in all cases planetary
systems are generated which satisfy a
Titius-Bode sort of law ; and in all cases
the number of planets generated is between
several and about 20, that is, -10. This
property may be understood in a very
qualitative way: An accreting planet can
be expected to perturb the orbits of dust
particles in the solar nebula up to a few
astronomical units distant, depending on
the planetary mass, and to sweep up
mat,erial in such a zone. The number of
such zones of a few astronomical units in
width in a nebula 50 AU in radius is -10;
hence the number of planets. The remark-
able result on the number of planets then
is attributable to the size of the solar
nebula which is given as an input param-
eter. However, there is at least a hint in
our results (see Fig. 13a) that more massive
and extensive solar nebulae lead to very
large Jovian planets or very small stars ;
but that, even in such a case, the number of
dust lanes swept up is still -10. The width
of the lanes, i.e., the spacing of the planets,
arises in part from the dependence of the
accreting planets gravitational capture
lengths on their orbital radii, EZa r (see
Section II). In many models a terrestrial
planet is found beyond the Jovians, as is
true in our system for Pluto, suggesting
that, the latter need not be an escaped
OF ACCRETION 531
satellite of Neptune. In many models,
objects of asteroidal mass are formed.
The computer simulations described in
this paper and in Doles take no explicit
account of chemical fractionation, the T
Tauri stage of early stellar evolution,
nebular opacity, frozen-in magnetic fields,
and a number of other factors. The accre-
tion process is imagined to be purely
dynamical, and in that respect is similar to
the work of Weidenschilling (1974). Fur-
thermorc, for purposes of computational
convenience even the dynamics is simpli-
fied ; as, for example, when all dust grains
are taken to have the same eccentricity.
We have found that both major and minor
changcls in the model, of equal apparent
plausibility as the initial conditions assumed
by Dole, lead to dramatic changes in the
resulting planetary systems. Of course, it
must be borne in mind that with at least
six free parameters to describe the model
nebula, we have investigated only a small
fraction of our parameter space. In fact,
there exists a multitude of such spaces,
each defined by distinct, plausible density
distributions, of which only two, forms A
and B, were considered in this work.
Considering these, we have covcrcd a
relatively minute number of cases indeed.
Nevertheless, in all cases, even when
pathological binary-star systems arc gen-
crated, planetary systems arc formed. One
interesting result is that while terrestrial
planets can be formed without Jovian
planets (in very low-mass solar nebulae)
the converse never occurs. We contjinuc
to be impressed that so simple and incom-
pletc a dynamical model generates rec-
ognizable if not familiar planetary systems
with -10 planets per system and a
Bodes_law spacing for a wide variety of
initial conditions. It would be interesting
to determine whether more complete models
continue to display such regularities. Thus
far, the results suggest that planetary
systems are widely prevalent in the Milky
Way Galaxy, but that substantial morpho-
532 ISAACMAN ANI) SAGAN

logical differcnccs between cxt~rasolar plan- TIN approximation R + ;4 is good pro-

c%ary systems and our own can lw cxpcctcd. vidrld only that the wcalwr condition
R/C >> 1 holds, and, sinccb R - 50 and
APPENDIX : KVALUATION OF TIIF: C - 10~, t)liis is gcwc~rally trw.
MASH OF THE NKBULA
If ?/ = 3, 111, does not cotlwrgc~ as
The total mass density throughout thck R ---f 5. The result of the, integration is
cloud (bot,h gas and dust) is
:I113 = (+a)Klp, 111 (1 + IZCW), II = 3.

P(r.) = /U(r) + &(I) = PII + ZCp,, * K&l

l~ortunatcly, the diwrgcnce is logarithmic-
since Kl- 50 >> 1. Thus, for the gcwnotry ally slow, so that t#hc choice of IZ is not.
of an exocorw of opening angle 8,,,:,, and critical. Sinw ACRETI~~ is usually run so
radius R, the mass of the cltwd is as to inject nuclri out as far as 1 = 50 AL,
\\(Iwlculutc A/ li with R = 70.

For a cylindrical geometry \\ith Greys We nre grakful to S. I hle for c0mment.a aud fol
sech? vertical distribution this Iwomc~s generously providiug us with n copy of t,he comput,el
progr:m, ACRTSTE:, :uld to B. J. Lcvill, S. J.
(sw Srction VI I)
\Veideuschillitlg, T. ( :old, and .J. Veverkn for helpful
.K
commenk This research was support,ed in part, by
ill,. = 47rK-y p<,(Y) rw1..
NASA lmder (:rarlt. N(:R 33-010-082, nnd ill part_
/0
by t,he Planet,ology Program Office, NASA Hend-
quarters, under Grant NC :R ~~5-010-220. One of us
If thra den&y distribution t,akw form A,
(R.I.) was support.ed by the Nntiorutl Ast,rouomy
p,, = A (lxp(-NO), the mass in cithcr caw aud Ionosphere Ceut,er, which is operat,ed by Cornell
is lil1iversit.y llnder cmrt,r:tc*t, i,o the N:tt.iollnl Sciellce
R
lc)rund;ttiotr (NSF (ktiO0).
ill+ = 47rRA,$ P Cxp(- a,++)//,.,
10

where .$ = sin I!?,,,,, for am ~~XOCOIW, mtl

t = y = 0.00267 for IJwys cylinder. Typ-
ically, R - 50 and a! - 5. If ,b = 1, thtl
wntroid of the distribut,ion is at I, = i R.\c*~rrs, (:. I<;. (I%!,). Critique of The Resolutnt,
<< 50, so t,hat, to cxccllcnt :bl-I-roxitn:~tic,n, Struct,ure of the Solar Syst,em, by .4. M.
TYC cm cxtcnd t)hc upptr limit OII the Molchnnov. Icnrcts 11, X8-92.
I~I,\(:K, I). c:., .\Nn SITFOLK, (:. c:. J. (lY7:I).
integral to m. This approximation is st)ill
ConcLerning i.hc plnnct~:try syst,ern of I<aruards
quite good for ,b < 1, so that \v(bcm ~~xtlx~ St nr. fcar,a 19, &5:~ -:<57.
the substitution u = ~0 am1 perform th(x HIEN, J. (1973). On 1he stability of t,he plauet,:try
wmi-infinite, integral to find sysl,em. .4 s&on. .Istroph!p. 24, 283-232.
(! IMICIWN, .4. (;. W. (1073). Acrumulnt.ion processes
111, = (4aKA (//3)oc-Q- (3,//q. in the primitive solar llebulu. Icarla 18, 407p4.i0.
C \MM~oN, A. (;. W. (1!)76).Private comIllrlrlicaliol1.
If the dist,ribution talws form I3, ~~1 (:wxoN, A. (:. LV., .\ix,) PINI*:, hf. R. (1973).
= p, (Y,, + C)-, tlicl integral bwomw Numerical models of the primitive solar ncbuln.
/cnr,rs 18, :<77-406.
I )01x, S. II. (1070). l~ormatiotit of pl:met,ary syskms
by aggregntioll : A c~oulputer simulatio~l. fcnrrts 13,
4!94&508.
I )k,ItMoTT, S. I. (l%li). C)Il t,he origin of commensur-
:tbilit,ies ill t.he solar s,vstem, I. :llon. Nof. IIo~.
il s/ran. isoc. 141, :j4!)Mti2.
 COMPUTER SIMULATIONS
D~:RMOTT,S. F. (1969). On the origin of commensur-
abilities in the solar system, III. Mon. Not. Roy.
Astron. Sot. 142, 143-149.
G.\HM, G. F., NORDH, H. L., ,\NI) OLOFSSON, S. G.
(1975). The T Tauri Star RU Lupi and its
circumstellar surrounding. Icurus 24, 372-378.
GATEWOOD, G. (1976). On the astrometric detect,ion
of neighboring planetary systems. Icurus 27, 1-12.
GINGERICH, 0. (1969). Kepler and the resonant
structure of the Solar system. Icarus 11, 111-113.
G~L~I~I~ICH,P., END WIRD, W. (1973). The forma-
tion of planetesimals. Astrophys. J. 183, 1051-
1061.
HIIL~IT, M. (1973). Astrophysical Concepfs, pp.
378-379. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
HIZNON,M. (1969). A comment on The Resonant
Structure of the Solar System, by A. M. Mol-
chanov. Icarus 11, 93-94.
HI<PPI<:NHISIMBR, T. A. (1974). Outlines of a theory
of planet formation of the planets and comets.
Icarus 22, 436-447.
HILLS, J. G. (1973). On t)he process of accretion in
the format,ion of the planets and comets. Icarus
18, 505-522
< .
OF ACCRETION 533
KUIP~:R, G. P. (1951). On the origin of the solar
system. In Astrophysics (J. A. Hynek, Ed.), pp.
357424. McGraw-Hill, New York.
LARSON, R. B. (1969). Numerical calculations of the
dynamics of a collapsing proto-star. Mon. Not.
Roy. Astron. Sot. 145, 271-295.
Lewis, J. (1974). The temperature gradient in t,he
solar nebula. Science 186, 440-443.
MOLCH.~NOV,A. M. (1968). The resonant structure
of the solar system. The law of planetary distance.
Icarus 8, 203-215.
M~LC~T:\NOV,A. M. (1969a). Resonances in complex
systems: A reply t,o critiques. Icarus 11, 95-103.
MOLCH.\NOV, A. M. (1969b). The reality of res-
onances in the solar system. Icarus 11, 111-113.
URICY, H. C. (1974). Evidence for runar-type
objects in the early solar system. Highlights of
Astronomy (G. Contopoulos and G. Contopoulos,
Eds.), Vol. 3, pp. 475-481. 1). Reidel, Boston.
WIZIDF,NSCHILLTNG,S. J. (1974). A model for
accretion of the terrestrial planets Icarus 22,
426-435<.