Collisional Fragmentation During Terrestrial Planet Accretion from a Narrow Annulus

Terrestrial planet accretion from a narrow annulus has been shown to produce simulated systems of rocky bodies that roughly match the dynamical and structural constraints imposed by our own observable solar system. Collisional fragmentation has also been shown to be an important process during terrestrial planet accretion. With the exception of a few notable studies, models that include both a narrow annulus formation model and collisional fragmentation are uncommon. This is in part due to the immense computational resources that are required to simulate thousands of gravitationally interacting bodies over hundreds of millions of years. In this work, we present the results of just such a study, run using the N-body integrator Swiftest. We show that collisional fragmentation creates localized bursts of debris that primarily affect the region surrounding the collision. This debris is gradually swept up into larger planetary embryos, although some populations can linger late into the accretion process. Here, we present the results of a suite of simulations aimed at studying the effects of collisional fragmentation on the accretion process, as well as the behavior of these late lingering debris populations. We also showcase the power of Swiftest and highlight its use in planet formation simulations.