Apsidal Clustering following the Inclination Instability. (arXiv:2004.01198v1 [astro-ph.EP])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Zderic_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Alexander Zderic</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Collier_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Angela Collier</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Tiongco_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Maria Tiongco</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Madigan_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Ann-Marie Madigan</a>
Disks of low-mass bodies on high-eccentricity orbits in near-Keplerian
potentials can be dynamically unstable to buckling out of the plane. In this
letter, we present $N$-body simulations of the long-term behavior of such a
system, finding apsidal clustering of the orbits in the disk plane. The
timescale over which the clustering is maintained increases with number of
particles, suggesting that lopsided configurations are stable at large $N$.
This discovery may explain the observed apsidal ($varpi$) clustering of
extreme trans-Neptunian Objects in the outer solar system.
Disks of low-mass bodies on high-eccentricity orbits in near-Keplerian
potentials can be dynamically unstable to buckling out of the plane. In this
letter, we present $N$-body simulations of the long-term behavior of such a
system, finding apsidal clustering of the orbits in the disk plane. The
timescale over which the clustering is maintained increases with number of
particles, suggesting that lopsided configurations are stable at large $N$.
This discovery may explain the observed apsidal ($varpi$) clustering of
extreme trans-Neptunian Objects in the outer solar system.
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