A coupled-oscillator model for the formation of planetary rings

Ruoming Gong; Theodore Broeren; Eryn M. Cangi; Daniel M. Abrams

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arXiv · 2606.13920

A coupled-oscillator model for the formation of planetary rings

Ruoming Gong·Theodore Broeren·Eryn M. Cangi·Daniel M. Abrams

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Abstract

We study the dichotomy between compact satellite and ring formation in proto-planetary disks. Specifically, we examine the behavior of a model system of $N$ identical particles locked into circular, gravitationally-bound orbits around a central body. We treat interactions as dominated by inter-particle collisions, and extract an effective two-particle interaction function based on both theory and simulations. We then demonstrate that the expected dynamics are equivalent to a variant of the Kuramoto model, which undergoes a phase transition as parameters vary. This offers a novel potential explanation for the transition between formation of rings versus moons.

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Ruoming Gong, Theodore Broeren, Eryn M. Cangi, Daniel M. Abrams. 2026-06-11. A coupled-oscillator model for the formation of planetary rings. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.13920

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