Deforming Exoplanets Through Tidal Forces

The flattenings of the layers of rotating planets and satellites deformed by a tidal potential

Authors:

Folonier et al

Abstract:

We consider the Clairaut theory of the equilibrium ellipsoidal figures for differentiated non-homogeneous bodies in non-synchronous rotation adding to it a tidal deformation due to the presence of an external gravitational force. We assume that the body is a fluid formed by n homogeneous layers of ellipsoidal shape and we calculate the external polar flattenings and the mean radius of each layer, or, equivalently, their semiaxes. To first order in the flattenings, the general solution can be written as ϵk=k∗ϵh and μk=k∗μh, where k is a characteristic coefficient for each layer which only depends on the internal structure of the body and ϵh,μh are the flattenings of the equivalent homogeneous problem. For the continuous case, we study the Clairaut differential equation for the flattening profile, using the Radau transformation to find the boundary conditions when the tidal potential is added. Finally, the theory is applied to several examples: i) a body composed of two homogeneous layers; ii) bodies with simple polynomial density distribution laws and iii) bodies following a polytropic pressure-density law.