Signatures of planets in debris disks

In a planetary system with a belt of planetesimals and interior giant planets, the trapping of dust in mean motion resonances (MMRs) with the planet, and the ejection of particles due to gravitational scattering. create structure in the dust disk. In anticipation of Spitzer Space Telescope observations, we study how this affects the shape of the disk's spectral energy distribution (SED), and discuss its use to infer the presence of planets in spatially unresolved debris disks. In some cases, there are degeneracies that can only be resolved through high spatial resolution observations, like those by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). Debris disk structure is sensitive to long period planets, complementing a parameter space not covered by other methods, and therefore it is a valuable tool to help us understand the diversity of planetary systems.