WELCOME! to the web site of Phil Armitage at the University of Colorado in Boulder. My research in theoretical and computational astrophysics focuses on the formation and early evolution of extrasolar planetary systems, and the astrophysics of black holes. Specific topics of current interest include studies of the nature of turbulence in protoplanetary disks and of the formation of extrasolar terrestrial planetary systems. My teaching includes a range of primarily upper division undergraduate and graduate classes.
Simulation of accretion disk turbulence
Our informal accretion / planet formation group currently includes Jake Simon, Andrew Youdin, Kaitlin Kratter (Hubble fellow), Chris Nixon (Einstein fellow) and Rebecca Martin (Sagan fellow). Past members of my group include former students Dimitri Veras, Jared Workman and Anna Hughes, and postdocs Ken Rice, Richard Alexander and Kris Beckwith.
Beyond work I enjoy hiking, often combined with photography. In addition to landscapes, which are my main focus, I've made trips the last few years to photograph bears in some spectacular spots in Alaska. Like seemingly everyone in Boulder, I'm into running and triathlon too!
Recent papers
Turbulence in the outer regions of protoplanetary disks. I Weak accretion with no vertical magnetic flux, J.B. Simon, X.-N. Bai, J.M. Stone, P.J. Armitage & K. Beckwith, ApJ, 764, article id. 66 (2013)
The interplay between X-ray photoevaporation and planet formation, G.P. Rosotti, B. Ercolano, J.E. Owen & P.J. Armitage, MNRAS, 430, 1392 (2013)
Mini-Oort clouds: Compact isotropic planetesimal clouds from planet-planet scattering, S.N. Raymond & P.J. Armitage, MNRAS, 429, L99 (2013)
A limit on eccentricity growth from global 3-D simulations of disc-planet interactions, A. Dunhill, R. Alexander & P.J. Armitage, MNRAS, 428, 3072 (2013)
Turbulent linewidths as a diagnostic of self-gravity in protostellar discs, D.H. Forgan, P.J. Armitage & J.B. Simon, MNRAS, 426, 2419 (2012)
Global variation of the dust-to-gas ratio in evolving protoplanetary discs, A.L.H. Hughes & P.J. Armitage, MNRAS, 423, 389 (2012)
Emergent mesoscale phenomena in magnetized accretion disc turbulence, J.B. Simon, K. Beckwith & P.J. Armitage, MNRAS, 422, 2685 (2012)
Debris disks as signposts of terrestrial planet formation. II Dependence of exoplanet architectures on giant planet and disk properties, S.N. Raymond, P.J. Armitage, A. Moro-Martin, et al., A&A, 541, A11 (2012)
Books, reviews and notes
Dynamics of protoplanetary disks, a review for Annual Reviews focusing on the physics of protoplanetary disks.
Lecture notes on the formation and early evolution of planetary systems, a survey of planet formation theory intended for introductory graduate students that forms the basis of my textbook, Astrophysics of planet formation.
Phil Armitage
Professor, APS
BA: Physics & Theoretical Physics, Cambridge
Ph.D.: Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge (supervisor Cathie Clarke)
Fellow, JILA