Publications

List of Publications

The origin of interstellar asteroidal objects like 1I/2017 U1 `Oumuamua

Portegies Zwart, Simon; Torres, Santiago; Pelupessy, Inti; Bédorf, Jeroen; Cai, Maxwell X.

We study the origin of the interstellar object 1I/2017 U1 `Oumuamua by juxtaposing estimates based on the observations with simulations. We speculate that objects like `Oumuamua are formed in the debris disc as left over from the star and planet formation process, and subsequently liberated. The liberation process is mediated either by interaction with other stars in the parental star cluster, by resonant interactions within the planetesimal disc or by the relatively sudden mass loss when the host star becomes a compact object. Integrating `Oumuamua backward in time in the Galactic potential together with stars from the Gaia-TGAS catalogue we find that about 1.3 Myr ago `Oumuamua passed the nearby star HIP 17288 within a mean distance of 1.3 pc. By comparing nearby observed L-dwarfs with simulations of the Galaxy, we conclude that the kinematics of `Oumuamua is consistent with relatively young objects of 1.1-1.7 Gyr. We just met `Oumuamua by chance, and with a derived mean Galactic density of ∼3 × 105 similarly sized objects within 100 au from the Sun or ∼1014 per cubic parsec we expect about 2-12 such visitors per year within 1 au from the Sun.

The signatures of the parental cluster on field planetary systems

Cai, Maxwell Xu; Portegies Zwart, Simon; van Elteren, Arjen

Due to the high stellar densities in young clusters, planetary systems formed in these environments are likely to have experienced perturbations from encounters with other stars. We carry out direct N-body simulations of multiplanet systems in star clusters to study the combined effects of stellar encounters and internal planetary dynamics. These planetary systems eventually become part of the Galactic field population as the parental cluster dissolves, which is where most presently known exoplanets are observed. We show that perturbations induced by stellar encounters lead to distinct signatures in the field planetary systems, most prominently, the excited orbital inclinations and eccentricities. Planetary systems that form within the cluster's half-mass radius are more prone to such perturbations. The orbital elements are most strongly excited in the outermost orbit, but the effect propagates to the entire planetary system through secular evolution. Planet ejections may occur long after a stellar encounter. The surviving planets in these reduced systems tend to have, on average, higher inclinations and larger eccentricities compared to systems that were perturbed less strongly. As soon as the parental star cluster dissolves, external perturbations stop affecting the escaped planetary systems, and further evolution proceeds on a relaxation time-scale. The outer regions of these ejected planetary systems tend to relax so slowly that their state carries the memory of their last strong encounter in the star cluster. Regardless of the stellar density, we observe a robust anticorrelation between multiplicity and mean inclination/eccentricity. We speculate that the `Kepler dichotomy' observed in field planetary systems is a natural consequence of their early evolution in the parental cluster.

Planetary systems in star clusters

Kouwenhoven, M. B. N.; Shu, Qi; Cai, Maxwell Xu; Spurzem, Rainer

Thousands of confirmed and candidate exoplanets have been identified in recent years. Consequently, theoretical research on the formation and dynamical evolution of planetary systems has seen a boost, and the processes of planet-planet scattering, secular evolution, and interaction between planets and gas/debris disks have been well-studied. Almost all of this work has focused on the formation and evolution of isolated planetary systems, and neglect the effect of external influences, such as the gravitational interaction with neighbouring stars. Most stars, however, form in clustered environments that either quickly disperse, or evolve into open clusters. Under these conditions, young planetary systems experience frequent close encounters with other stars, at least during the first $10^6$ - $10^7$ years, which affects planets orbiting at any period range, as well as their debris structures.

SiMon: Simulation Monitor for Computational Astrophysics

Qian, Penny Xuran; Cai, Maxwell Xu; Portegies Zwart, Simon; Zhu, Ming

Scientific discovery via numerical simulations is important in modern astrophysics. This relatively new branch of astrophysics has become possible due to the development of reliable numerical algorithms and the high performance of modern computing technologies. These enable the analysis of large collections of observational data and the acquisition of new data via simulations at unprecedented accuracy and resolution. Ideally, simulations run until they reach some pre-determined termination condition, but often other factors cause extensive numerical approaches to break down at an earlier stage. In those cases, processes tend to be interrupted due to unexpected events in the software or the hardware. In those cases, the scientist handles the interrupt manually, which is time-consuming and prone to errors. We present the Simulation Monitor (SiMon) to automatize the farming of large and extensive simulation processes. Our method is light-weight, it fully automates the entire workflow management, operates concurrently across multiple platforms and can be installed in user space. Inspired by the process of crop farming, we perceive each simulation as a crop in the field and running simulation becomes analogous to growing crops. With the development of SiMon we relax the technical aspects of simulation management. The initial package was developed for extensive parameter searchers in numerical simulations, but it turns out to work equally well for automating the computational processing and reduction of observational data reduction.

Block Time Step Storage Scheme for Astrophysical N-body Simulations

Cai, Maxwell Xu; Meiron, Yohai; Kouwenhoven, M. B. N.; Assmann, Paulina; Spurzem, Rainer

Astrophysical research in recent decades has made significant progress thanks to the availability of various N-body simulation techniques. With the rapid development of high-performance computing technologies, modern simulations have been able to use the computing power of massively parallel clusters with more than $10^5$GPU cores. While unprecedented accuracy and dynamical scales have been achieved, the enormous amount of data being generated continuously poses great challenges for the subsequent procedures of data analysis and archiving. In this paper, we propose an adaptive storage scheme for simulation data, inspired by the block time step (BTS) integration scheme found in a number of direct $N$-body integrators available nowadays, as an urgent response to these challenges. The proposed scheme, namely, the BTS storage scheme, works by minimizing the data redundancy by assigning individual output frequencies to the data as required by the researcher. As demonstrated by benchmarks, the proposed scheme is applicable to a wide variety of simulations. Despite the main focus of developing a solution for direct $N$-body simulation data, the methodology is transferable for grid-based or tree-based simulations where hierarchical time stepping is used.

Evolution of star clusters on eccentric orbits

Cai, Maxwell Xu; Gieles, Mark; Heggie, Douglas C.; Varri, Anna Lisa

We study the evolution of star clusters on circular and eccentric orbits using direct N-body simulations. We model clusters with initially $N = 8 {\rm k}$ and $N = 16 {\rm k}$ single stars of the same mass, orbiting around a point-mass galaxy. For each orbital eccentricity that we consider, we find the apogalactic radius at which the cluster has the same lifetime as the cluster with the same N on a circular orbit. We show that then, the evolution of bound particle number and half-mass radius is approximately independent of eccentricity. Secondly, when we scale our results to orbits with the same semimajor axis, we find that the lifetimes are, to first order, independent of eccentricity. When the results of Baumgardt and Makino for a singular isothermal halo are scaled in the same way, the lifetime is again independent of eccentricity to first order, suggesting that this result is independent of the galactic mass profile. From both sets of simulations, we empirically derive the higher order dependence of the lifetime on eccentricity. Our results serve as benchmark for theoretical studies of the escape rate from clusters on eccentric orbits. Finally, our results can be useful for generative models for cold streams and cluster evolution models that are confined to spherical symmetry and/or time-independent tides, such as Fokker-Planck models, Monte Carlo models, and (fast) semi-analytic models.

Stability of multiplanetary systems in star clusters

Cai, Maxwell Xu; Kouwenhoven, M. B. N.; Portegies Zwart, Simon F.; Spurzem, Rainer

Most stars form in star clusters and stellar associations. However, only about $\sim 1\%$ of the presently known exoplanets are found in these environments. To understand the roles of star cluster environments in shaping the dynamical evolution of planetary systems, we carry out direct $N$-body simulations of four planetary systems models in three different star cluster environments with respectively $N=2{\rm k}, 8{\rm k}$ and $32{\rm k}$ stars. In each cluster, an ensemble of initially identical planetary systems are assigned to solar-type stars with $\sim 1 M_{\odot}$ and evolved for 50~Myr. We found that following the depletion of protoplanetary disks, external perturbations and planet-planet interactions are two driving mechanisms responsible for the destabilization of planetary systems. The planet survival rate varies from $\sim 95\%$ in the $N=2$k cluster to $\sim 60\%$ in the $N=32{\rm k}$ cluster, which suggests that most planetary systems can indeed survive in low-mass clusters, except in the central regions. We also find that planet ejections through stellar encounters are cumulative processes, as only $\sim 3\%$ of encounters are strong enough to excite the eccentricity by $\Delta e \geq 0.5$. Short-period planets can be perturbed through orbit crossings with long-period planets. When taking into account planet-planet interactions, the planet ejection rate nearly doubles, and therefore multiplicity contributes to the vulnerability of planetary systems. In each ensemble, $\sim 0.2\%$ of planetary orbits become retrograde due to random directions of stellar encounters. Our results predict that young low-mass star clusters are promising sites for next-generation planet surveys, yet low planet detection rates are expected in dense globular clusters such as 47 Tuc. Nevertheless, planets in denser stellar environments are likely to have shorter orbital periods, which enhances their detectability.