[Previous] | [Session 25] | [Next]
Wm. R. Ward (Southwest Research Institute)
The physics of bending waves launched in a particle disk from a secular resonance by an inclined perturber is described. These so-called nodal waves are of long wavelength, carry negative angular momentum but little energy, and have a negative pattern speed. When originating from a resonance exterior (interior) to the perturber, they propagate outward (inward) as a leading (trailing) spiral wave. The reaction torque on the perturber tends to damp its orbital inclination, but causes little change in its semi-major axis. Some cosmogonical implications of this type of disk-satellite interaction for particle populations, such as the primordial asteroid and Kuiper belts, will be discussed.