Astrophysics of Planet Formation

Philip J. Armitage is a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University, State University of New York and he leads the planet formation group at New York's Center for Computational Astrophysics. He teaches classes on planet formation to advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and has lectured on the topic at summer schools worldwide.

• Preface; 1. Observations of planetary systems; 2. Protoplanetary disk structure; 3. Protoplanetary disk evolution; 4. Planetesimal formation; 5. Terrestrial planet formation; 6. Giant planet formation; 7. Early evolution of planetary systems; Appendix 1: physical and astronomical constants; Appendix 2: N-body methods; References; Index.

'Eleven years after the publication of its first edition, Armitage revisits this graduate-level textbook on the astrophysics of planet formation to update it based on the trove of knowledge produced by the Kepler space telescope and ALMA that revolutionized our concept of what planetary systems look like. The book covers the structure and evolution of protoplanetary disks and the formation of planetesimals within them, the formation of rocky and giant planets, as well as the evolution of protoplanetary systems. The astrophysics is put into context by an introductory chapter on what observations are currently telling us.' Karouzos Marios, Nature Astronomy