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Gas disks to gas giants : Simulating the birth of planetary systems

The observed extrasolar planetary systems display a wide range of masses, orbits and, in multiple-planet systems, dynamical interactions. These represent the end point of a complex sequence of events, wherein a protostellar disk converts itself into a small number of planetary bodies. We have presented self-consistent numerical simulations of this process, which produce results in agreement with some of the key statistical trends of the observed exoplanetary systems. Analogs to our own solar system do not appear to be common, originating from disks near the boundary between barren and (giant) planet-forming. The work has received a lot of media coverage.