Abstract

An open problem in planet formation theory is the growth of dust grains from centimetre to metre sizes. The small dust grains in protoplanetary discs must be concentrated together in order to grow to planetesimal sizes. We therefore require protoplanetary discs to contain substructures where dust grains can collide and planetesimal formation can be triggered. In this talk I will discuss the substructures induced in discs perturbed by stellar flybys. I will present the results of 3D smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of discs after a range of flyby encounters and study the dust dynamics in flyby-induced substructures. I will demonstrate that the substructures induced by stellar flybys can trap dust for long periods of time and hence induce planetesimal formation.