Collisions Between Gravity-Dominated Bodies: 1. Outcome Regimes and Scaling Laws

TL;DR

This paper develops an analytic model and scaling laws to predict outcomes of collisions between gravity-dominated bodies, improving the understanding of planet formation processes.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analytic description and scaling laws for collision outcomes, validated by high-resolution simulations, covering various impact regimes.

Findings

Derived equations demarcate transition between collision regimes

Created maps of collision outcomes based on impact parameters

Enhanced collision physics modeling in planet formation simulations

Abstract

Collisions are the core agent of planet formation. In this work, we derive an analytic description of the dynamical outcome for any collision between gravity-dominated bodies. We conduct high-resolution simulations of collisions between planetesimals; the results are used to isolate the effects of different impact parameters on collision outcome. During growth from planetesimals to planets, collision outcomes span multiple regimes: cratering, merging, disruption, super-catastrophic disruption, and hit-and-run events. We derive equations (scaling laws) to demarcate the transition between collision regimes and to describe the size and velocity distributions of the post-collision bodies. The scaling laws are used to calculate maps of collision outcomes as a function of mass ratio, impact angle, and impact velocity, and we discuss the implications of the probability of each collision regime during planet formation. The analytic collision model presented in this work will significantly improve the physics of collisions in numerical simulations of planet formation and collisional evolution. (abstract abridged)