From dust grains to planetesimals, via streaming instability?

by Prof. Yanqing Wu(武延庆) (University of Toronto)

Tuesday 10 Nov 2026, 14:00 → 15:00 Asia/Shanghai

Tsung-Dao Lee Institute/S4F-SW - Open Area (Tsung-Dao Lee Institute)

Host: Dong Lai
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Abstract：
Dust grains shine brightly in proto-planetary disks. If these grains become large enough and dense enough, they can stir the gas via the so-called streaming instability. The turbulent gas may then cluster the grains into even denser clumps, possibly triggering the formation of planetesimals. I will first describe our current efforts to quantify the few key steps in this picture. This includes the saturation strength of the streaming instability, the process of turbulent concentration, and lastly, the observational evidences for grain sizes.

Biography:
Yanqin Wu is a professor of theoretical astrophysics in the University of Toronto. She is currently pursuing issues in proto-planetary disks, including grain growth, planetesimal formation, fluid dynamics, etc.