The Yarkovsky effect in REBOUNDx

TL;DR

This paper introduces the implementation of the Yarkovsky effect into REBOUNDx, enabling more accurate simulations of small body orbital dynamics influenced by radiative forces, with two versions provided for different user needs.

Contribution

It adds the Yarkovsky effect to REBOUNDx, including two versions and demonstrations, enhancing the tool's capability for studying small body orbital evolution.

Findings

Demonstrated the effect's implementation and efficiency

Compared the effect with previous radiative force models

Showed application in asteroid orbit simulations during stellar evolution

Abstract

To more thoroughly study the effects of radiative forces on the orbits of small, astronomical bodies, we introduce the Yarkovsky effect into REBOUNDx, an extensional library for the N-body integrator REBOUND. Two different versions of the Yarkovsky effect (the "Full Version" and the "Simple Version") are available for use, depending on the needs of the user. We provide demonstrations for both versions of the effect and compare their computational efficiency with another previously implemented radiative force. In addition, we show how this effect can be used in tandem with other features in REBOUNDx by simulating the orbits of asteroids during the asymptotic giant branch phase of a 2 $M_{\odot}$ star. This effect is made freely available for use with the latest release of REBOUNDx.