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M. C. Lewis (Trinity University), G. R. Stewart (Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics)
We present the results of simulations involving a system similar to Saturn’s F ring with a single inner perturber that resembles Prometheus on an eccentric orbit. Previously we have shown in similar simulations involving a perturber on a circular orbit that the presence of the moon caused material to group together in narrow rings. The process that governs this is more akin to a negative diffusion than the standard torque models. We have also explored the impact of different perturbation magnitudes on the evolution of this system and found that larger perturbations result in faster evolution and more distant final spacing of the rings. Having a perturber on an eccentric orbit causes different parts of the system to receive different magnitude perturbations on each pass by the perturber. We look at how the system evolution is altered by having these different magnitude perturbations. The new simulations involve modified boundary conditions and have 10 million particles. To handle this large number of particles, the code was parallelized so the work could be efficiently distributed over many machines. This work funded by a NASA PG&G grant.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #3< br> © 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.