The debris disk - terrestrial planet connection
  The eccentric orbits of the known extrasolar giant planets provide evidence that most planet-forming environments undergo violent dynamical instabilities. Here, we numerically simulate the impact of giant planet instabilities on planetary systems as a whole. We find that populations of inner rocky and outer icy bodies are both shaped by the giant planet dynamics and are naturally correlated. Strong instabilities -- those with very eccentric surviving giant planets -- completely clear out their inner and outer regions. In contrast, systems with stable or low-mass giant planets form terrestrial planets in their inner regions and outer icy bodies produce dust that is observable as debris disks at mid-infrared wavelengths. Fifteen to twenty percent of old stars are observed to have bright debris disks (at wavelengths of ~70 microns) and we predict that these signpost dynamically calm environments that should contain terrestrial planets. 
Sean N. Raymond, Philip J. Armitage, Amaya Moro-Mart\'in, Mark Booth,   Mark Wyatt, John C. Armstrong, Avi M. Mandell, Franc...
astro-ph.EP astro-ph.SR