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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 January 2010
Here, gravitational scattering of planetesimals(viscous stirring and dynamical friction) andtheir growth through pairwise collisions(runaway/oligarchic growth) are explained in detail.The masses of accreted protoplanets depend oninitial disk surface density and semimajor axis.When the mass of a protoplanet becomes larger than a critical valuethat is a few to ten earth masses, runaway gas accretion fromthe disk onto the planet starts.The dependence of the protoplanet massesis responsible for the diversity of extrasolar planetary systems,although orbital migrations of planetsare also important drivers to produce the diversity.