Determine the infrared-flux signature of sporadic collisions among large planetesimals

Determine how sporadic collisions between slowly viscously spreading large planetesimals affect the infrared flux of debris-disk populations as a function of system age.

Background

The model treats large planetesimals as the bodies that drive radial and vertical viscous spreading, while the observed millimetre emission is attributed to dust and pebbles generated through collisions. The paper argues that collisions among the largest bodies may be infrequent but can inject fresh debris, potentially altering the observable emission relative to the underlying planetesimal distribution.

The collision rate decreases as the velocity dispersion grows, whereas the mass released per collision may increase with collision velocity. The resulting age dependence of the dust mass and infrared emission cannot be obtained from the simple analytic scaling presented, leaving unresolved how sporadic destructive impacts would appear in debris-disk flux evolution and whether they can reconcile competing predicted or observed flux-age relations.