{
  "abstract": "We present an exploratory numerical model for the thermal evolution and fragmentation of pristine interstellar comets on a first passage through the inner Solar System, applied over a grid of perihelion distances ($q=0.25$--$1.5$~AU) and tensile strengths ($σ_t=50$--$500$~Pa). A single nucleus ($M_0=2\\times10^{12}$~kg, $R_0\\approx1.06$~km, dust/ice $=1$, ices 35\\% CO, 30\\% CO$_2$, 15\\% CH$_4$, 20\\% H$_2$O) follows a hyperbolic trajectory from an initially 30~K state, with heat conduction, energy-balanced multi-species sublimation, dust lifting and lag-mantle growth, and a subsurface gas-pressure failure criterion, so that fragmentation is emergent rather than prescribed. In the primary case ($q=1$~AU, $σ_t=100$~Pa) splitting begins at the 3~AU starting distance, once a sub-millimeter lag deposit partially confines the warming CO front; 63 binary splittings follow, with a self-limited plateau at 53 bodies before perihelion and the 64-body tracking cap reached near perihelion. Sublimation is energy-limited: total mass loss is 1.3\\%, volatile depletions are at most a few per cent, and most of the mass survives as a fragment swarm; the mass budget closes to machine precision. Across the grid, mass loss (0.8--1.7\\%) depends weakly on $q$ and $σ_t$ but strongly on composition, falling to 0.1\\% for depleted, 67P-like ices. Yet every case, including the depleted class, disaggregates, whereas Jupiter-family comets of similar composition survive repeated perihelia, so the sealing prescription over-fragments. We regard the composition ranking, the insensitivity to $σ_t$, percent-level mass loss, and an onset beyond 3~AU as robust, and defer absolute survival predictions to calibration against well-observed comets. Mantle insulation suppresses outbound activity, producing an inbound--outbound asymmetry.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.20773",
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Behrooz Karamiqucham"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f5246yjpwnm8p.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.20773",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "f5246yjpwnm8p",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.20773",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.EP"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Astro and Planetary Science"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213599885",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.20773",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-21",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f5246yjpwnm8p.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:23:19Z",
      "native_id": "2609.20773",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.20773"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.EP",
      "subfield": "planetary"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Fragmentation Dynamics of Pristine Interstellar Comets: An Exploratory Multi-Physics Simulation Study",
  "title_text": "Fragmentation Dynamics of Pristine Interstellar Comets: An Exploratory Multi-Physics Simulation Study",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:23:19Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f5246yjpwnm8p",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}