Phil Armitage, Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Colorado

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 of extrasolar planetary systems and the astrophysics of black holes. Recent work includes predictions for ALMA observations of protoplanetary disks, development of a new model for high energy accretion based on strongly magnetized disks, studies of tidal disruption events, and analytic and simulation studies of planetesimal formation. As part of JILA's theoretical astrophysics group I share research interests with Mitch Begelman and Ann-Marie Madigan, and work with a group of postdocs and students that currently include Jake Simon, Upasana Das, Bhupendra Mishra, Vladimir Zhdankin and Dan Gole.

Simulation of accretion disk turbulence, by Jake Simon

Recent papers
Interstellar object 'Oumuamua as an extinct fragment of an ejected cometary planetesimal, S.N. Raymond, P.J. Armitage & D. Veras, ApJL, 856, article id. L7 (2018)

Circumbinary, not transitional: On the spiral arms, cavity, shadows, fast radial flows, streamers and horseshoe in the HD142527 disc, D.J. Price, et al., MNRAS, 477, 1270 (2018)

Implications of the interstellar object 1I/'Oumuamua for planetary dynamics and planetesimal formation, S.N. Raymond, P.J. Armitage, D. Veras, E.V. Quintana & T. Barclay, MNRAS, 476, 3031 (2018)

Tidal disruption by extreme mass ratio binaries and application to ASASSN-15lh, E.R. Coughlin & P.J. Armitage, MNRAS, 474, 3857 (2018)

Evidence for universality in the initial planetesimal mass function, J.B. Simon, P.J. Armitage, A.N. Youdin & R. Li, ApJL, 847, article id. L12 (2017)

A three-dimensional view of turbulence: Constraints on turbulent motions in the HD 163296 protoplanetary disk using DCO+, K.M. Flaherty, et al., ApJ, 843, article id. 150 (2017)

Tidal disruption events from supermassive black hole binaries, E.R. Coughlin, P.J. Armitage, C. Nixon & M.C. Begelman, MNRAS, 465, 3840 (2017)

Reviews and notes
Physical processes in protoplanetary disks (Armitage, 45th Saas-Fee Advanced Course "From Protoplanetary Disks to Planet Formation")

A brief overview of planet formation (Armitage, short introduction for the Handbook of Exoplanets)

The dispersal of protoplanetary disks (Alexander et al., Protostars and Planets VI, 2014)

The long-term dynamical evolution of planetary systems (Davies et al., Protostars and Planets VI, 2014)

Dynamics of protoplanetary disks (Armitage, ARA&A, 2011)

Lecture notes on the formation and early evolution of planetary systems (arXiv only)

Textbook

Personal I did my undergraduate and graduate work at the University of Cambridge, working with Cathie Clarke at the Institute of Astronomy as my primary advisor. I came to Boulder, where I'm now a professor in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences and a Fellow of JILA, via postdoctoral stints at CITA and MPA and a period as a Lecturer at the University of St Andrews.

Beyond work I enjoy hiking, often combined with photography. My main focus is landscapes, but over the years I've also made trips to photograph bears in some spectacular spots in Alaska. Boulder is an outdoors-y place, and I've had fun trying my hand at triathlons before more recently switching to trail running.

Philip Armitage, JILA, 440 UCB
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO80309-0440
Tel: 303-492-7836; FAX: 303-492-5235
email: pja@jilau1.colorado.edu