Abstract

The great diversity of extrasolar planetary systems has challenged our understanding of how planets form and how their orbits evolve as they form. Among the various processes that may account for this diversity, the gravitational interaction between planets and their parent protoplanetary disk plays a prominent role in shaping young planetary systems. Planet-disk forces are large, and the characteristic times for the evolution of planets’ orbital elements are much shorter than the lifetime of protoplanetary disks. The determination of such forces is challenging, because it involves many physical mechanisms and requires detailed knowledge of the disk structure. Yet intense research over the past few years, with the exploration of many new avenues, represents a significant improvement on the state of the discipline. This chapter reviews the current understanding of planet-disk interactions and highlights their role in setting the properties and architecture of observed planetary systems.

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