Project P3: Origin of warm and hot dust and planetary system architecture (AIU/Jena)

Summary

Near- and mid-IR interferometry, high-resolution mid-IR spectra, and far-IR surveys undertaken in recent years suggest that debris disks commonly possess a complex radial structure, involving cold (~50 K), warm ~200 K), and hot (~1000 K) dust components. However, the origin of the warm and hot dust populations and interrelations between them remain largely unclear. Following on the research performed in the first phase, we will investigate specific scenarios for the origin of the observed warm and hot dust that satisfy the available theoretical and observational constraints. For warm dust, we will focus on short-period comets as a potential source and will try to distinguish between cometary and asteroidal scenarios. For hot dust, we will primarily investigate the recently proposed idea of dust trapping at the sublimation zone by the differential Doppler effect. We will also make suggestions for future observational tests. The project will be run in a close collaboration with projects P4−P8 that are providing key ingredients for the collisional models and calculation of observables.