Paper: astro-ph/0507319
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2005 14:09:52 GMT (386kb)

Title: Neptune's Migration into a Stirred-Up Kuiper Belt: A Detailed Comparison
of Simulations to Observations

Authors: Joseph M. Hahn and Renu Malhotra
Comments: 60 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical
Journal
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Nbody simulations are used to examine the consequences of Neptune's outward
migration into the Kuiper Belt, with the simulated endstates being compared
rigorously and quantitatively to the observations. These simulations confirm
the findings of Chiang et al. (2003), who showed that Neptune's migration into
a previously stirred-up Kuiper Belt can account for the Kuiper Belt Objects
(KBOs) known to librate at Neptune's 5:2 resonance. We also find that capture
is possible at many other weak, high-order mean motion resonances, such as the
11:6, 13:7, 13:6, 9:4, 7:3, 12:5, 8:3, 3:1, 7:2, and the 4:1. The more distant
of these resonances, such as the 9:4, 7:3, 5:2, and the 3:1, can also capture
particles in stable, eccentric orbits beyond 50 AU, in the region of phase
space conventionally known as the Scattered Disk. Indeed, 90% of the simulated
particles that persist over the age of the Solar System in the so-called
Scattered Disk zone never had a close encounter with Neptune, but instead were
promoted into these eccentric orbits by Neptune's resonances during the
migration epoch. This indicates that the observed Scattered Disk might not be
so scattered. This model also produced only a handful of Centaurs, all of which
originated at Neptune's mean motion resonances in the Kuiper Belt. We also
report estimates of the abundances and masses of the Belt's various
subpopulations (e.g., the resonant KBOs, the Main Belt, and the so-called
Scattered Disk), and also provide upper limits on the abundance of Centaurs and
Neptune's Trojans, as well as upper limits on the sizes and abundances of
hypothetical KBOs that might inhabit the a>50 AU zone.

\\ ( http://arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0507319 , 386kb)