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It is well known that turbulence can increase the rate of collision of
aerosol particles. As a result of recent work we now have a fairly
complete understanding of the different physical processes involved
and of how the collision rate can be estimated quantitatively.
I will argue that the increased rate of collision of particles in turbulent
flows is primarily caused by the generation of caustics in the velocity field
of the particles, rather than spatial clustering.
These results are relevant to the initiation of rainfall and the (hypothesised) formation of planets from dust around a young star. They explain the rapid onset of rainfall from cumulus clouds, but imply serious difficulties with the standard model of planet formation. I will introduce a new theory for the origin of planetary systems, and explain how this may resolve most of the observational and theoretical puzzles surrounding the problem of planet formation. The talk reports work done in collaboration with Bernhard Mehlig, (Gothenburg), Vlad Bezuglyy and Ville Uski (Open). |
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