Giant planet migration in eccentric and non-eccentric regimes

Althea Moorhead (Florida)

The observed extrasolar planets possess both large masses and a wide range in orbital eccentricity. As planets are thought to form in circumstellar disks, the effect of a gaseous disk on an eccentric planet's orbit may play an important role in the formation of planetary systems. I review previous studies of disk-planet interactions, and present our extensions of this body of work. For instance, little is known about the interaction between a disk and a gas giant on an eccentric, rather than circular, orbit; we fill this gap with simulations of eccentric, massive planets in disks using the hydrodynamical code FARGO, and find that eccentricity damping always occurs when the planet is released into the disk.