Modeling the 3-D secular planetary three-body problem: Discussion on the outer υ Andromedae planetary system

The three-dimensional secular behavior of a system composed of a central star and two massive planets is modeled semi-analytically in the frame of the general three-body problem. The main dynamical features of the system are presented in geometrical pictures allowing us to investigate a large domain of the phase space of this problem without time-expensive numerical integrations of the equations of motion and without any restriction on the magnitude of the planetary eccentricities, inclinations and mutual distance. Several regimes of motion of the system are observed. With respect to the secular angle Δ?, possible motions are circulations, oscillations (around 0° and 180°), and high-eccentricity/inclination librations in secular resonances. With respect to the arguments of pericenter, ω₁ and ω₂, possible motions are direct circulation and high-inclination libration around ±90° in the Lidov-Kozai resonance. The regions of transition between domains of different regimes of motion are characterized by chaotic behavior. We apply the analysis to the case of the two outer planets of the υ Andromedae system, observed edge-on. The topology of the 3-D phase space of this system is investigated in detail by means of surfaces of section, periodic orbits and dynamical spectra, mapping techniques and numerical simulations. We obtain the general structure of the phase space, and the boundaries of the spatial secular stability. We find that this system is secularly stable in a large domain of eccentricities and inclinations.     

Secular dynamics of the three-body problem: application to the υ Andromedae planetary system

The discovery of extra-solar planetary systems with multiple planets in highly eccentric orbits (∼0.1-0.6), in contrast with our own Solar System, makes classical secular perturbation analysis very limited. In this paper, we use a semi-numerical approach to study the secular behavior of a system composed of a central star and two massive planets in co-planar orbits. We show that the secular dynamics of this system can be described using only two parameters, the ratios of the semi-major axes and the planetary masses. The main dynamical features of the system are presented in geometrical pictures that allows us to investigate a large domain of the phase space of this three-body problem without time-expensive numerical integrations of the equations of motion, and without any restriction on the magnitude of the planetary eccentricities. The topology of the phase space is also investigated in detail by means of spectral map techniques, which allow us to detect the separatrix of a non-linear secular apsidal resonance. Finally, the qualitative study is supplemented by direct numerical integrations. Three different regimes of secular motion with respect to the secular angle Δ? are possible: they are circulation, oscillation (around 0° and 180°), and high eccentricity libration in a non-linear secular resonance. The first two regimes are a continuous extension of the classical linear secular perturbation theory; the last is a new feature, hitherto unknown, in the secular dynamics of the three-body problem. We apply the analysis to the case of the two outer planets in the υ Andromedae system, and obtain its periodic and ordinary orbits, the general structure of its secular phase space, and the boundaries of its secular stability; we find that this system is secularly stable over a large domain of eccentricities. Applying this analysis to a wide range of planetary mass and semi-major axis ratios (centered about the υ Andromedae parameters), we find that apsidal oscillation dominates the secular phase space of the three-body coplanar system, and that the non-linear secular resonance is also a common feature.     

Secular apsidal configuration of non-resonant exoplanetary systems

Using a high-order (order 12) expansion of the perturbative potential in powers of eccentricities [Libert, A.-S., Henrard, J., 2005. Celest. Mech. Dynam. Astron. 93, 187-200], we study the secular effects of two coplanar planets which are not in mean motion resonances. The main results concern eccentricity variations, oscillation amplitude of the angular difference of the apsidal lines (Δ?) and frequency of such an oscillation. We show that this analytical approach describes correctly the behaviour of most of the exosystems and underlines the known limitations of the linear Laplace-Lagrange theory. Apsidal configuration of υ Andromedae, HD 168443, HD 169830, HD 38529, HD 74156 and HD 12661 are examined. We also point out the great sensitivity of the υ Andromedae system to the initial values (e₁(0), e₂(0) or Δ?(0)).     

The dynamics of two massive planets on inclined orbits

The significant orbital eccentricities of most giant extrasolar planets may have their origin in the gravitational dynamics of initially unstable multiple planet systems. In this work, we explore the dynamics of two close planets on inclined orbits through both analytical techniques and extensive numerical scattering experiments. We derive a criterion for two equal mass planets on circular inclined orbits to achieve Hill stability, and conclude that significant radial migration and eccentricity pumping of both planets occurs predominantly by 2:1 and 5:3 mean motion resonant interactions. Using Laplace-Lagrange secular theory, we obtain analytical secular solutions for the orbital inclinations and longitudes of ascending nodes, and use those solutions to distinguish between the secular and resonant dynamics which arise in numerical simulations. We also illustrate how encounter maps, typically used to trace the motion of massless particles, may be modified to reproduce the gross instability seen by the numerical integrations. Such a correlation suggests promising future use of such maps to model the dynamics of more coplanar massive planet systems.     

Orbital stability of systems of closely-spaced planets

An investigation of the stability of systems of 1 M_⊕ (Earth-mass) bodies orbiting a Sun-like star has been conducted for virtual times reaching 10 billion years. For the majority of the tests, a symplectic integrator with a fixed timestep of between 1 and 10 days was employed; however, smaller timesteps and a Bulirsch-Stoer integrator were also selectively utilized to increase confidence in the results. In most cases, the planets were started on initially coplanar, circular orbits, and the longitudinal initial positions of neighboring planets were widely separated. The ratio of the semimajor axes of consecutive planets in each system was approximately uniform (so the spacing between consecutive planets increased slowly in terms of distance from the star). The stability time for a system was taken to be the time at which the orbits of two or more planets crossed. Our results show that, for a given class of system (e.g., three 1 M_⊕ planets), orbit crossing times vary with planetary spacing approximately as a power law over a wide range of separation in semimajor axis. Chaos tests indicate that deviations from this power law persist for changed initial longitudes and also for small but non-trivial changes in orbital spacing. We find that the stability time increases more rapidly at large initial orbital separations than the power-law dependence predicted from moderate initial orbital separations. Systems of five planets are less stable than systems of three planets for a specified semimajor axis spacing. Furthermore, systems of less massive planets can be packed more closely, being about as stable as 1 M_⊕ planets when the radial separation between planets is scaled using the mutual Hill radius. Finally, systems with retrograde planets can be packed substantially more closely than prograde systems with equal numbers of planets.     

The full set of gas giant structures: I: On the origin of planetary masses and the planetary initial mass function

Context

Current planet search programs are detecting extrasolar planets at a rate of 60 planets per year. These planets show more diverse properties than was expected.

Aims

We try to get an overview of possible gas giant (proto-) planets for a full range of orbital periods and stellar masses. This allows the prediction of the full range of possible planetary properties which might be discovered in the near future.

Methods

We calculate the purely hydrostatic structure of the envelopes of proto-planets that are embedded in protoplanetary disks for all conceivable locations: combinations of different planetesimal accretion rates, host star masses, and orbital separations. At each location all hydrostatic equilibrium solutions to the planetary structure equations are determined by variation of core mass and pressure over many orders of magnitude. For each location we analyze the distribution of planetary masses.

Results

We get a wide spectrum of core-envelope structures. However, practically all calculated proto-planets are in the planetary mass range. Furthermore, the planet masses show a characteristic bimodal, sometimes trimodal, distribution. For the first time, we identify three physical processes that are responsible for the three characteristic planet masses: self-gravity in the Hill sphere, compact objects, and a region of very low adiabatic pressure gradient in the hydrogen equation of state. Using these processes, we can explain the dependence of the characteristic masses on the planet’s location: orbital period, host star mass, and planetesimal accretion rate (luminosity). The characteristic mass caused by the self-gravity effect at close proximity to the host star is typically one Neptune mass, thus producing the so-called hot Neptunes.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that hot Jupiters with orbital period less than 64 days (the exact location of the boundary depends on stellar type and accretion rate) have quite distinct properties which we expect to be reflected in a different mass distribution of these planets when compared to the “normal” planetary population. We use our theoretical survey to produce an upper mass limit for embedded planets: the maximum embedded equilibrium mass (MEEM). This naturally explains the lack of high mass planets between 3 and 64 days orbital period.     

The web of three-planet resonances in the outer Solar System

In this paper we numerically detect the web of three-planet resonances (i.e., resonances among mean anomalies, nodes and perihelia of three planets) with respect to the variation of the semi-major axis of Saturn and Jupiter, in a model including the planets from Jupiter to Neptune. The measure confirms the relevance of these resonances in the long-term evolution of the outer Solar System and provides a technique to identify some of the related coefficients.     

The influence of mutual perturbations on the eccentricity excitation by jet acceleration in extrasolar planetary systems

We study the influence of mutual planetary perturbations on the process of eccentricity excitation by jet acceleration suggested by Namouni (Astron. J. 130, 280–294). Modeling the jet’s action by a constant-direction acceleration, we solve the linear secular equations of the combined planetary perturbations and the jet acceleration of the host star for a two-planet system. The effects of the acceleration’s strength, relative mass ratio and the relative distance of the two planets are investigated. The model is applied to the extrasolar planetary systems of HD 108874, 47 Uma, and HD 12661.     

Rotational dynamics of planetary satellites: A survey of regular and chaotic behavior

The problem of observability of chaotic regimes in the rotation of planetary satellites is studied. The analysis is based on the inertial and orbital data available for all satellites discovered up to now. The Lyapunov spectra of the spatial chaotic rotation and the full range of variation of the spin rate are computed numerically by integrating the equations of the rotational motion; the initial data are taken inside the main chaotic layer near the separatrices of synchronous resonance in phase space. The model of a triaxial satellite in a fixed elliptic orbit is adopted. A short Lyapunov time along with a large range of variation of the spin rate are used as criteria for observability of the chaotic motion. Independently, analysis of stability of the synchronous state with respect to tilting the axis of rotation provides a test for the physical opportunity for a satellite to rotate chaotically. Finally, a calculation of the times of despinning due to tidal evolution shows whether a satellite's spin could evolve close to the synchronous state. Apart from Hyperion, already known to rotate chaotically, only Prometheus and Pandora, the 16th and 17th satellites of Saturn, pass all these four tests.     

The influence of shapes of the bodies on the dynamics of planetary and star systems

The dynamics of planetary and star systems including perturbing forces due to the flattering and quadrupole distortion of the bodies is studied. The analytical model describing the perturbations which influence on the orbital motion of extrasolar planetary systems is presented. The calculations of the secular evolution of the mean orbital elements have shown that the effects related to the shape of the body are more important than the ones due to the quadrupole distortion.     

On the stability of a planet between Mars and the asteroid belt: Implications for the Planet V hypothesis

The stability of an additional planet between the orbit of Mars and the asteroid belt is examined in the context of the Planet V hypothesis. In this model, the Solar System initially contained a fifth terrestrial planet, “Planet V,” which was removed after ∼700 Myr, a possible trigger for the late heavy bombardment on the inner planets. The model is investigated using 96 N-body integrations of the 8 major planets with an additional body between Mars and the asteroid belt. In more than 1/4 of simulations, Planet V survives for 1000 Myr. In most other cases, Planet V collides with the Sun or hits another planet after several hundred Myr, leaving 4 surviving terrestrial planets. In 24/96 simulations, Planet V is lost by ejection or collision with the Sun while the other four terrestrial planets survive without undergoing a collision. In 18 cases, Planet V is removed at least 200 Myr after the beginning of the simulation. The endstate depends sensitively on the mass of Planet V. Collision with the Sun is likely when Planet V's mass is 0.25 Mars masses or less. When Planet V is more massive than this, collisions involving it and/or other terrestrial planets become commonplace. In unstable systems, the times of first encounter and first collision/ejection depend on the initial aphelion distance of Mars. Reducing Mars's aphelion distance increases these times and also increases the fraction of systems surviving for 1000 Myr. When Mars's current orbit is used, the stability of Planet V increases when these two planets are widely separated initially. Planet V's aphelion distance Q typically begins to cross the asteroid belt within a few tens to a few hundred Myr, and its orbit last leaves the belt several hundred Myr later in most cases. The total time spent with Q>2.1 AU is typically less than 200 Myr.     

The web of three-planet resonances in the outer Solar System: II. A source of orbital instability for Uranus and Neptune

The motion of the giant planets from Jupiter to Neptune is chaotic with Lyapunov time of approximately 10 Myr. A recent theory explains the presence of this chaos with three-planet mean-motion resonances, i.e. resonances among the orbital periods of at least three planets. We find that the distribution of these resonances with respect to the semi-major axes of all the planets is compatible with orbital instability. In particular, they overlap in a region of 10⁻³ AU with respect to the variation of the semi-major axes of Uranus and Neptune. Fictitious planetary systems with initial conditions in this region can undergo systematic variations of semi-major axes. The true Solar System is marginally in this region, and Uranus and Neptune undergo very slow systematic variations of semi-major axes with speed of order 10⁻⁴ AU/Gyr.     

Persistent evidence of a jovian mass solar companion in the Oort cloud

We present updated dynamical and statistical analyses of outer Oort cloud cometary evidence suggesting that the Sun has a wide-binary jovian mass companion. The results support a conjecture that there exists a companion of mass ≈ orbiting in the innermost region of the outer Oort cloud. Our most restrictive prediction is that the orientation angles of the orbit plane in galactic coordinates are centered on Ω, the galactic longitude of the ascending node = 319° and i, the galactic inclination = 103° (or the opposite direction) with an uncertainty in the orbit normal direction subtending <2% of the sky. Such a companion could also have produced the detached Kuiper Belt object Sedna. If the object exists, the absence of similar evidence in the inner Oort cloud implies that common beliefs about the origin of observed inner Oort cloud comets must be reconsidered. Evidence of the putative companion would have been recorded by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) which has completed its primary mission and is continuing on secondary objectives.     

On the rotation of a moonlet embedded in planetary rings

We examine the rotation of a small moonlet embedded in planetary rings caused by impacts of ring particles, using analytic calculation and numerical orbital integration for the three-body problem. Taking into account the Rayleigh distribution of particles' orbital eccentricities and inclinations, we evaluate both systematic and random components of rotation, where the former arises from an average of a large number of small impacts and the latter is contribution from large impacts. Calculations for parameter values corresponding to inner parts of Saturn's rings show that a moonlet would spin slowly in the prograde direction if most impactors are small particles whose velocity dispersion is comparable to or smaller than the moonlet's escape velocity. However, we also find that the effect of the random component can be significant, if the velocity dispersion of particles is larger and/or impacts of large particles comparable to the moonlet's size are common: in this case, both prograde and retrograde rotations can be expected. In the case of a small moonlet embedded in planetary rings of equal-sized particles, we find that the systematic component dominates the moonlet rotation when m/M?0.1 (m and M are the mass of a particle and a moonlet, respectively), while the random component is dominant when m/M?0.3. We derive the condition for the random component to dominate moonlet rotation on the basis of our results of three-body orbital integration, and confirm agreement with N-body simulation.     

The shape and dynamics of a heliotropic dusty ringlet in the Cassini Division

The so-called “Charming Ringlet” (R/2006 S3) is a low-optical-depth, dusty ringlet located in the Laplace gap in the Cassini Division, roughly 119,940 km from Saturn center. This ringlet is particularly interesting because its radial position varies systematically with longitude relative to the Sun in such a way that the ringlet’s geometric center appears to be displaced away from Saturn’s center in a direction roughly toward the Sun. In other words, the ringlet is always found at greater distances from the planet’s center at longitudes near the sub-solar longitude than it is at longitudes near Saturn’s shadow. This “heliotropic” behavior indicates that the dynamics of the particles in this ring are being influenced by solar radiation pressure. In order to investigate this phenomenon, which has been predicted theoretically but not observed this clearly, we analyze multiple image sequences of this ringlet obtained by the Cassini spacecraft in order to constrain its shape and orientation. These data can be fit reasonably well with a model in which both the eccentricity and the inclination of the ringlet have “forced” components (that maintain a fixed orientation relative to the Sun) as well as “free” components (that drift around the planet at steady rates determined by Saturn’s oblateness). The best-fit value for the eccentricity forced by the Sun is 0.000142 ± 0.000004, assuming this component of the eccentricity has its pericenter perfectly anti-aligned with the Sun. These data also place an upper limit on a forced inclination of 0.0007°. Assuming the forced inclination is zero and the forced eccentricity vector is aligned with the anti-solar direction, the best-fit values for the free components of the eccentricity and inclination are 0.000066 ± 0.000003 and 0.0014 ± 0.0001°, respectively. While the magnitude of the forced eccentricity is roughly consistent with theoretical expectations for radiation pressure acting on 10-to-100-μm-wide icy grains, the existence of significant free eccentricities and inclinations poses a significant challenge for models of low-optical-depth dusty rings.     

The dynamics of Jupiter and Saturn in the gaseous protoplanetary disk

We study the possibility that the mutual interactions between Jupiter and Saturn prevented Type II migration from driving these planets much closer to the Sun. Our work extends previous results by Masset and Snellgrove [Masset, F., Snellgrove, M., 2001. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 320, L55-L59], by exploring a wider set of initial conditions and disk parameters, and by using a new hydrodynamical code that properly describes for the global viscous evolution of the disk. Initially both planets migrate towards the Sun, and Saturn's migration tends to be faster. As a consequence, they eventually end up locked in a mean motion resonance. If this happens in the 2:3 resonance, the resonant motion is particularly stable, and the gaps opened by the planets in the disk may overlap. This causes a drastic change in the torque balance for the two planets, which substantially slows down the planets' inward migration. If the gap overlap is substantial, planet migration may even be stopped or reversed. As the widths of the gaps depend on disk viscosity and scale height, this mechanism is particularly efficient in low viscosity, cool disks. The initial locking of the planets in the 2:3 resonance is a likely outcome if Saturn formed at the edge of Jupiter's gap, but also if Saturn initially migrated rapidly from further away. We also explore the possibility of trapping in other resonances, and the subsequent evolutions. We discuss the compatibility of our results with the initial conditions adopted in Tsiganis et al. [Tsiganis, K., Gomes, R., Morbidelli, A., Levison, H.F., 2005. Nature 435, 459-461] and Gomes et al. [Gomes, R., Levison, H.F., Tsiganis, K., Morbidelli, A., 2005. Nature 435, 466-469] to explain the current orbital architecture of the giant planets and the origin of the Late Heavy Bombardment of the Moon.     

The role of dark matter in the galaxy mass-size relationship

The observed relationship between stellar mass and effective radius for early type galaxies, pointed out by many authors, is interpreted in the context of Clausius’ virial maximum theory. In this view, it is strongly underlined that the key of the above mentioned correlation is owing to the presence of a deep link between cosmology and the existence of the galaxy Fundamental Plane. Then the ultimate meaning is: understanding visible mass-size correlation and/or Fundamental Plane means understanding how galaxies form. The mass-size relationship involves baryon (mainly stellar) mass and its typical dimension related to the light, but it gets memory of the cosmological mass variance at the equivalence epoch. The reason is that the baryonic component virializes by sharing virial energy in about equal amount between baryons and dark matter, this sharing depending, in turn, on the steepness of the dark matter distribution. The general strategy consists in using the two-component tensor virial theorem for determining the virialized baryonic configurations. A King and a Zhao density profile are assumed for the inner baryonic and the outer dark matter component, respectively, at the end of the relaxation phase. All the considerations are restricted to spherical symmetry for simplicity. The effect of changing the dark-to-baryon mass ratio, m, is investigated inside a ΛCDM scenario. A theoretical mass-size relation is expressed for the baryonic component, which fits fairly well to the data from a recently studied galaxy sample. Finally, the play of intrinsic dispersion on the mass ratio, m, is discussed in the light of the cusp/core problem and some consequences are speculated about the existence of a limit m_l expected by the theory.     

The rectilinear three-body problem using symbol sequence II: role of the periodic orbits

We study the change of phase space structure of the rectilinear three-body problem when the mass combination is changed. Generally, periodic orbits bifurcate from the stable Schubart periodic orbit and move radially outward. Among these periodic orbits there are dominant periodic orbits having rotation number (n − 2)/n with n ≥ 3. We find that the number of dominant periodic orbits is two when n is odd and four when n is even. Dominant periodic orbits have large stable regions in and out of the stability region of the Schubart orbit (Schubart region), and so they determine the size of the Schubart region and influence the structure of the Poincaré section out of the Schubart region. Indeed, with the movement of the dominant periodic orbits, part of complicated structure of the Poincaré section follows these orbits. We find stable periodic orbits which do not bifurcate from the Schubart orbit.