The formation of giant planets by disc fragmentation

One of the most fascinating questions in modern day Astronomy is how stars and their planetary systems form. In the last couple of decades a large number of exoplanets have been discovered around distant stars, providing important clues about the planet formation process. This project aims at understanding how planet formation happens in the discs of gas and dust around young stars. Two main theories have been proposed to explain the formation of gas giant planets: (i) core accretion, in which planetary cores form from coagulation of dust particles into progressively larger bodies, and (ii) disc fragmentation, in which giant planets form directly by the gravitational collapse of massive discs. The aim of this project is to investigate the disc fragmentation theory in young protostellar discs using radiative hydrodynamic simulations that include both gas and dust, so that comparisons can be made with observations from current observing facilities (e.g. ALMA, VLT). The aim of this project is to determine the conditions of disc fragmentation, the properties (mass, orbital radius) of the planets formed, and examine how these properties compare with the observed exoplanet properties.