# The Structure of the Distant Kuiper Belt in a Nice Model Scenario

## TL;DR

This study uses a Nice model scenario to simulate the orbital distribution of Kuiper belt objects, finding good agreement with observations for most resonances except the 5:1, which remains underpopulated in the model.

## Contribution

It demonstrates that planetary migration in a Nice model scenario can reproduce the observed Kuiper belt structure, highlighting discrepancies in the 5:1 resonance population.

## Key findings

- Outer resonances match observed TNO distributions
- 3:1 and 4:1 resonance populations are consistent with observations
- 5:1 resonance is underpopulated in the model

## Abstract

This work explores the orbital distribution of minor bodies in the outer Solar System emplaced as a result of a Nice model migration from the simulations of Brasser & Morbidelli (2013). This planetary migration scatters a planetesimal disk from between 29-34 AU and emplaces a population of objects into the Kuiper belt region. From the 2:1 Neptune resonance and outward, the test particles analyzed populate the outer resonances with orbital distributions consistent with trans-Neptunian object (TNO) detections in semi-major axis, inclination, and eccentricity, while capture into the closest resonances is too efficient. The relative populations of the simulated scattering objects and resonant objects in the 3:1 and 4:1 resonances are also consistent with observed populations based on debiased TNO surveys, but the 5:1 resonance is severely underpopulated compared to population estimates from survey results. Scattering emplacement results in the expected orbital distribution for the majority of the TNO populations, however the origin of the large observed population in the 5:1 resonance remains unexplained.