David O'BrienNASA Early Career FellowshipFormation and Evolution of Planetary SystemsThe research proposed here provides the first comprehensive model of both the chemistry and dynamics of terrestrial planet formation in extrasolar planetary systems. Building on our success in modeling terrestrial planet formation in our own Solar System, we will use a detailed equilibrium condensation code to determine the compositions of solids (planetesimals and planetary embryos) that form in the disks surrounding other stars of varying compositions. We will then couple this to n-body dynamical models of terrestrial planet formation in order to track how those planetesimals and embryos grow into terrestrial planets, under the influence of different giant planet configurations and evolutionary histories (such as giant planet migration). The goal of this work is to quantify and explore the chemical and dynamical diversity of terrestrial planets that can exist around other stars, and study the implications of their composition for planetary processes like plate tectonics. 

This work will help to answer a number of NASA's Science Questions listed under Strategic Subgoal 3D, including "How do planets, stars, galaxies, and cosmic structures come into being," and it is relevant to NASA's Research Objective 3D.3, "Understand how individual stars form and how those processes ultimately affect the formation of planetary systems," as we will be studying how changes in stellar composition can affect the chemistry of terrestrial planets that they may harbor. This proposal is also directly relevant to the Early Career Fellowship Program, as it will help the PI to build a research program and group and develop the infrastructure to sustain it over the long term.