Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 316 2 vi Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Combining constant mass flux in a collisional cascade with the rate in part (iv) givesSet the exponent to zero and multiply by three:or . Therefore the velocity-dependent collisional cascade hasFor , this recovers the Dohnanyi collisional cascade slope . The denominator must be nonzero, and the resulting slope and destructive cutoff must satisfy the assumptions used for the collision-rate integral. A size-dependent vertical belt thickness would supply an additional volume factor and change this result.
With size-independent collision speed and catastrophic disruption threshold , the catastrophic planetesimal collision rate scales as . Multiplying by mass per logarithmic size bin gives processed mass proportional to . Constant mass flux in a collisional cascade sets the exponent to zero, yielding the displayed differential-number index when . This is the zero-velocity-exponent case of a velocity-dependent collisional cascade.