Circumstellar Disks and Planet Formation

The 8 week reading seminar will focus on topics related to the study of  
circumstellar disks, from the primordial, through the planet building,  
and the debris disk phases.  The format and topics to be covered will  
be guided by the interests of the seminar participants.  A structured  
list of possible topics is given below.  The seminar will use reading  
materials from the literature to highlight outstanding issues in the  
field as well as to introduce background material.  Participants will  
be asked to present some of the relevant papers.


1.  Evolution of gas in disks
	i.e., evolution of gas content, physical structure, chemical
        abundances

	- Theoretical expectations and observed phenomena
		- accretion processes
		- turbulence in disks
		- "prebiotic" molecules
		- planet formation and gap clearing
		- photoevaporation

	- How do these place constraints on star formation processes?
	  How do they constrain planet formation processes?


2.  Evolution of dust in disks, primordial to debris

	- Theoretical expectations and observed phenomena
		- grain growth
		- terrestrial and giant planet formation
		- collisional debris production

	- What do the observations tell us about
	  the formation and evolution of planetary systems,
	  the bombardment histories of planets, and
	  the delivery of water and organics to planetary surfaces?


3.  Identifying and characterizing disks that are forming planets

	- Theoretical expectations
	- Observational strategies
	- What do current results tell us about planet formation and
          planetary architectures?
	- Future prospects