Orbital Evolution of Hot Jupiters

Tidal Dissipation and Obliquity Evolution in Hot Jupiter Systems

Authors:

Valsecchi et al

Abstract:

Two formation scenarios have been proposed to explain the tight orbits of hot Jupiters. These giant planets could be formed in low-obliquity orbits via disk migration or in high-obliquity orbits via high-eccentricity migration, where gravitational interactions with a companion are at play, together with tidal dissipation. Here we target the observed misaligned hot Jupiter systems to investigate whether their current properties are consistent with high-eccentricity migration. Specifically, we study whether tidal dissipation in the star can be responsible for the observed distribution of misalignments and orbital separations. Improving on previous studies, we use detailed models for the stellar component, thus accounting for how convection (and thus tidal dissipation) depends on the host star properties. We find that the currently observed degree of misalignment increases as the amount of surface convection in the host star decreases. This trend supports the hypothesis that tides are the mechanism shaping the observed distribution of misalignments. Furthermore, we study the past orbital evolution of four representative systems. We consider various initial orbital configurations and integrate the equations describing the coupled evolution of the orbital separation, stellar spin, and misalignment. We account for tidal dissipation in the star, stellar wind mass loss, changes in the star's internal structure as a result of stellar evolution, and magnetic braking. We show that the current properties of these four representative systems can be explained naturally, given our current understanding of tidal dissipation and with physically motivated assumptions for the effects driving the orbital evolution.