= James B. Pollack
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<James B. Pollack> led numerical models of <gas giant> formation that calculated solid and gaseous <accretion> together. The simulations combined capture of <planetesimals>, evolution of the planetary <gas> envelope and dissolution of incoming solid material within that envelope.
The coupling matters because accreting solids both increase the central <mass> and deposit <energy>, changing the envelope's subsequent ability to collect <gas>. The resulting evolutionary phases include rapid solid growth, slower growth of both components and eventually rapid <gas> accumulation. This gave a physical account of how an initially modest solid core could become a giant <planet> within the available disk lifetime.<Formation of the giant planets by concurrent accretion of solids and gas by James B. Pollack and others>[p. 62, abstract: coupled numerical components and three evolutionary phases]{ref}
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{title=Portrait of <James B. Pollack>}
{description=NASA/Ames Research Center. Public domain in the United States (NASA work, as marked on Commons), via Wikimedia Commons.}
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