Abstract
The mass distribution of planetesimals undergoes evolution because small planetesimals accrete into larger ones and because large planetesimals break into smaller ones by collision. The mass distribution that results from accretion can be described asymptotically by one of the positive stable laws of probability theory since accretion is a strictly additive process. Certain properties of stable laws and random sums of independent, identically distributed random variables are reviewed. It is shown that, under certain assumptions about the initial distribution, the processes of accretion and collision will produce a distribution of mass that follows an inverse power law with the index 2/3.
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