Planetary systems in dense stellar environments

Abstract The recent advances in observational and computational techniques allow studying the formation and dynamical evolution of planetary systems at an unprecedented level. The formation and evolution of isolated planetary systems are challenging in itself and it is more complicated by the dense environments in which stars and planets are typically born. Here, we present an overview of the internal and external processes that govern the dynamical evolution of planetary systems, and we provide a brief overview of a selection of the computational tools that are presently available to carry out realistic simulations of planetary systems in dense stellar environments.