Observed Binary Fraction Sets Limits on the Extent of Collisional Grinding in the Kuiper Belt

TL;DR

This study investigates whether collisional grinding can explain the observed size distribution in the Kuiper belt, finding that binary system survival limits the extent of such grinding and suggesting the size distribution may be a primordial feature.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new collision code that models binary system effects and uses binary survival to constrain collisional grinding in the Kuiper belt.

Findings

Observed binary fractions challenge extensive collisional grinding hypotheses.

Binary survival constraints imply less collisional disruption than previously thought.

The size distribution roll-over may be a primordial feature, not caused by collisions.

Abstract

The size distribution in the cold classical Kuiper belt can be approximated by two idealized power laws: one with steep slope for radii R>R* and one with shallow slope for R<R*, where R*~25-50 km. Previous works suggested that the SFD roll-over at R* can be the result of extensive collisional grinding in the Kuiper belt that led to the catastrophic disruption of most bodies with R<R*. Here we use a new code to test the effect of collisions in the Kuiper belt. We find that the observed roll-over could indeed be explained by collisional grinding provided that the initial mass in large bodies was much larger than the one in the present Kuiper belt, and was dynamically depleted. In addition to the size distribution changes, our code also tracks the effects of collisions on binary systems. We find that it is generally easier to dissolve wide binary systems, such as the ones existing in the cold Kuiper belt today, than to catastrophically disrupt objects with R~R*. Thus, the binary survival sets important limits on the extent of collisional grinding in the Kuiper belt. We find that the extensive collisional grinding required to produce the SFD roll-over at R* would imply a strong gradient of the binary fraction with R and separation, because it is generally easier to dissolve binaries with small components and/or those with wide orbits. The expected binary fraction for R<R* is <0.1. The present observational data do not show such a gradient. Instead, they suggest a large binary fraction of ~0.4 for R=30-40 km. This may indicate that the roll-over was not produced by disruptive collisions, but is instead a fossil remnant of the KBO formation process.