Diffusive Tidal Evolution for Migrating hot Jupiters

Diffusive Tidal Evolution for Migrating hot Jupiters

Author:

Wu

Abstract:

I consider a Jovian planet on a highly eccentric orbit around its host star, a situation possibly produced by secular interactions with its planetary or stellar companions. At every periastron passage, tidal interactions lead to an energy exchange between the orbit and the planet's internal oscillations (predominantly an l=2 f-mode). Starting from zero energy, this f-mode can be diffusively excited if the one-kick energy gain is greater than (ωPorb)−1 of the orbital energy. This occurs at a pericentre distance of 4 tidal radii (or 1.6 Roche radius). Furthermore, when the f-mode has a non-negligible initial energy, this diffusive evolution can set in at a much reduced threshold. The first finding is important for stalling the secular migration. The f-mode can absorb orbital energy and decouple the planet from its secular perturbers, parking all migrating jupiters safely outside the zone of tidal disruption. The second finding is important for circularizing the planet's orbit. It allows an excited f-mode to continuously absorb orbital energy even when the one-kick energy is weakening along the path of circularization (due to increasing pericentre distance). So without any explicit dissipation, other than the fact that the f-mode will damp nonlinearly when its amplitude reaches unity, the planet can be transported from a few AU to 0.2 AU in 10^4 yrs. Such a rapid circularization corresponds to an equivalent tidal dissipation factor Q ~ 1, and it explains the observed deficit of super-eccentric Jovian planets. Lastly, the repeated f-mode breaking deposits energy and angular momentum in the outer shells of the planet. This likely alters the planet's thermal structure, but should fall short of ablating it. Overall, this work boosts the case for forming hot Jupiters through high-eccentricity secular migration.

Secular and tidal evolution of circumbinary systems

Secular and tidal evolution of circumbinary systems

Authors:

Corriea et al

Abstract:

We investigate the secular dynamics of three-body circumbinary systems under the effect of tides. We use the octupolar non-restricted approximation for the orbital interactions, general relativity corrections, the quadrupolar approximation for the spins, and the viscous linear model for tides. We derive the averaged equations of motion in a simplified vectorial formalism, which is suitable to model the long-term evolution of a wide variety of circumbinary systems in very eccentric and inclined orbits. In particular, this vectorial approach can be used to derive constraints for tidal migration, capture in Cassini states, and stellar spin-orbit misalignment. We show that circumbinary planets with initial arbitrary orbital inclination can become coplanar through a secular resonance between the precession of the orbit and the precession of the spin of one of the stars. We also show that circumbinary systems for which the pericenter of the inner orbit is initially in libration present chaotic motion for the spins and for the eccentricity of the outer orbit. Because our model is valid for the non-restricted problem, it can also be applied to any three-body hierarchical system such as star-planet-satellite systems and triple stellar systems.

Tidal evolution of CoRoT massive planets and brown dwarfs and of their host stars

Tidal evolution of CoRoT massive planets and brown dwarfs and of their host stars

Author:

Ferraz-Mello

Abstract:

Aims:

Revisit and improvement of the main results obtained in the study of the tidal evolution of several massive CoRoT planets and brown dwarfs and of the rotation of their host stars.

Methods:

Simulations of the past and future evolution of the orbital and rotational elements of the systems under the joint action of the tidal torques and the braking due to the stellar wind.

Results:

Presentation of several paradigms and significant examples of tidal evolution in extrasolar planetary systems. It is shown that the high quality of the photometric and spectrographic observations of the CoRoT objects allow for a precise study of their past and future evolution and to estimate the tidal parameters ruling the dissipation in the systems.

On turbulence driven by axial precession and tidal evolution of the spin–orbit angle of close-in giant planets

On turbulence driven by axial precession and tidal evolution of the spin–orbit angle of close-in giant planets

Author:

Barker

Abstract:

The spin axis of a rotationally deformed planet is forced to precess about its orbital angular momentum vector, due to the tidal gravity of its host star, if these directions are misaligned. This induces internal fluid motions inside the planet that are subject to a hydrodynamic instability. We study the turbulent damping of precessional fluid motions, as a result of this instability, in the simplest local computational model of a giant planet (or star), with and without a weak internal magnetic field. Our aim is to determine the outcome of this instability, and its importance in driving tidal evolution of the spin–orbit angle in precessing planets (and stars). We find that this instability produces turbulent dissipation that is sufficiently strong that it could drive significant tidal evolution of the spin–orbit angle for hot Jupiters with orbital periods shorter than about 10–18 days. If this mechanism acts in isolation, this evolution would be towards alignment or anti-alignment, depending on the initial angle, but the ultimate evolution (if other tidal mechanisms also contribute) is expected to be towards alignment. The turbulent dissipation is proportional to the cube of the precession frequency, so it leads to much slower damping of stellar spin–orbit angles, implying that this instability is unlikely to drive evolution of the spin–orbit angle in stars (either in planetary or close binary systems). We also find that the instability-driven flow can act as a system-scale dynamo, which may play a role in producing magnetic fields in short-period planets.

Kepler-62e & Kepler-62f Will Have Very Different ExoClimates

Mercury-T: A new code to study tidally evolving multi-planet systems. Applications to Kepler-62

Authors:

Bolmont et al

Abstract:

A large proportion of observed planetary systems contain several planets in a compact orbital configuration, and often harbor at least one close-in object. These systems are then most likely tidally evolving. We investigate how the effects of planet-planet interactions influence the tidal evolution of planets.

We introduce for that purpose a new open-source addition to the Mercury N-body code, Mercury-T, which takes into account tides, general relativity and the effect of rotation-induced flattening in order to simulate the dynamical and tidal evolution of multi-planet systems. It uses a standard equilibrium tidal model, the constant time lag model. Besides, the evolution of the radius of several host bodies has been implemented (brown dwarfs, M-dwarfs of mass 0.1 M⊙, Sun-like stars, Jupiter). We validate the new code by comparing its output for one-planet systems to the secular equations results. We find that this code does respect the conservation of total angular momentum.

We applied this new tool to the planetary system Kepler-62. We find that tides influence the stability of the system in some cases. We also show that while the four inner planets of the systems are likely to have slow rotation rates and small obliquities, the fifth planet could have a fast rotation rate and a high obliquity. This means that the two habitable zone planets of this system, Kepler-62e ad f are likely to have very different climate features, and this of course would influence their potential at hosting surface liquid water.

SuperEarth rho 55 Cancri e may Have had a VERY Dramatic History (not counting the volcanoes)

On the potentially dramatic history of the super-Earth rho 55 Cancri e

Authors:

Hansen et al

Abstract:

We demonstrate that tidal evolution of the inner planet (`e') of the system orbiting the star rho 55 Cancri could have led to passage through two secular resonances with other planets in the system. The consequence of this evolution is excitation of both the planetary eccentricity and inclination relative to the original orbital plane. The large mass ratio between the innermost planet and the others means that these excitations can be of substantial amplitude and can have dramatic consequences for the system organisation. Such evolution can potentially explain the large observed mutual inclination between the innermost and outermost planets in the system, and implies that tidal heating could have substantially modified the structure of planet e, and possibly reduced its mass by Roche lobe overflow. Similar inner secular resonances may be found in many multiple planet systems and suggest that many of the innermost planets in these systems could have suffered similar evolutions.

Evolution of Angular-momentum-losing Exoplanetary Systems

Evolution of angular-momentum-losing exoplanetary systems: Revisiting Darwin stability

Authors:

Damiani et al

Abstract:

We aim at assessing the importance of tidal evolution and its interplay with magnetic braking in the population of hot-Jupiter planetary systems. By minimizing the total mechanical energy of a given system under the constraint of stellar angular momentum loss, we rigorously find the conditions for the existence of dynamical equilibrium states. We estimate their duration, in particular when the wind torque spinning down the star is almost compensated by the tidal torque spinning it up. We introduce dimensionless variables to characterize the tidal evolution of observed hot Jupiter systems and discuss their spin and orbital states using generalized Darwin diagrams based on our new approach. We show that their orbital properties are related to the effective temperature of their host stars. The long-term evolution of planets orbiting F- and G-type stars is significantly different owing to the combined effect of magnetic braking and tidal dissipation. The existence of a quasi-stationary state, in the case of short-period planets, can significantly delay their tidal evolution that would otherwise bring the planet to fall into its host star. Most of the planets known to orbit F-type stars are presently found to be near this stationary state, probably in a configuration not too far from that they had when their host star settled on the zero-age main sequence. Estimates of the engulfment timescale based on the conservation of the total angular momentum of a star-planet system must be revised and angular momentum loss has to be taken into account when constraining tidal evolution in close planetary systems. Considering the importance of angular momentum loss in the early stages of stellar evolution, our results indicate that it has to be taken into account also to properly test the migration scenarios of planetary system formation.