Mutual gravitational perturbations between planetesimals within protoplanetary disks Original Research Article

The result of several simulations of a planetesimal swarm orbiting a protostar are examined. It is shown that variations in both protoplanetary masses and inclinations can affect the behavior of these bodies, perhaps even causing ejection from the system or orbits that show large and/or sudden changes in their orbital parameters. Such effects are the result of mutual gravitational scattering between the planetesmials, which can cause motions ranging from nearly quiescent to wildly chaotic.