No Arabic abstract
Short period planets are subject to intense energetic irradiations from their stars. It has been shown that this can lead to significant atmospheric mass-loss and create smaller mass planets. Here, we analyse whether the evaporation mechanism can affect the orbit of planets. The orbital evolution of a planet undergoing evaporation is derived analytically in a very general way. Analytical results are then compared with the period distribution of two classes of inner exoplanets: Jupiter-mass planets and Neptune-mass planets. These two populations have a very distinct period distribution, with a probability lower than 10^-4 that they were derived from the same parent distribution. We show that mass ejection can generate significant migration with an increase of orbital period that matches very well the difference of distribution of the two populations. This would happen if the evaporation emanates from above the hottest region of planet surface. Thus, migration induced by evaporation is an important mechanism that cannot be neglected.
We compare evolutionary models for close-in exoplanets coupling irradiation and evaporation due respectively to the thermal and high energy flux of the parent star with observations of recently discovered new transiting planets. The models provide an overall good agreement with observations, although at the very limit of the quoted error bars of OGLE-TR-10, depending on its age. Using the same general theory, we show that the three recently detected hot-Neptune planets (GJ436, $rho$ Cancri, $mu$ Ara) may originate from more massive gas giants which have undergone significant evaporation. We thus suggest that hot-Neptunes and hot-Jupiters may share the same origin and evolution history. Our scenario provides testable predictions in terms of the mass-radius relationships of these hot-Neptunes.
A recent observational study suggests that the occurrence of hot Jupiters (HJs) around solar-type stars is correlated with stellar clustering. We study a new scenario for HJ formation, called Flyby Induced High-e Migration, that may help explain this correlation. In this scenario, stellar flybys excite the eccentricity and inclination of an outer companion (giant planet, brown dwarf, or low-mass star) at large distance (10-300 au), which then triggers high-e migration of an inner cold Jupiter (at a few astronomical units) through the combined effects of von Zeipel-Lidov-Kozai (ZLK) eccentricity oscillation and tidal dissipation. Using semianalytical calculations of the effective ZLK inclination window, together with numerical simulations of stellar flybys, we obtain the analytic estimate for the HJ occurrence rate in this formation scenario. We find that this flyby induced high-e migration could account for a significant fraction of the observed HJ population, although the result depends on several uncertain parameters, including the density and lifetime of birth stellar clusters, and the occurrence rate of the cold Jupiter + outer companion systems.
Several authors have shown that precise measurements of transit time variations of exoplanets can be sensitive to other planetary bodies, such as exo-moons. In addition, the transit timing variations of the exoplanets closest to their host stars can provide tests of tidal dissipation theory. These studies, however, have not considered the effect of the host star. There is a large body of observational evidence that eclipse times of binary stars can vary dramatically due to variations in the quadrupole moment of the stars driven by stellar activity. In this paper we investigate and estimate the likely impact such variations have on the transit times of exoplanets. We find in several cases that such variations should be detectable. In particular, the estimated period changes for WASP-18b are of the same order as those expected for tidal dissipation, even for relatively low values of the tidal dissipation parameter. The transit time variations caused by the Applegate mechanism are also of the correct magnitude and occur on timescales such that they may be confused with variations caused by light-time travel effects due to the presence of a Jupiter-like second planet. Finally, we suggest that transiting exoplanet systems may provide a clean route (compared to binaries) to constraining the type of dynamo operating in the host star.
We calculate the conversion from non-adiabatic, non-radial oscillations tidally induced by a hot Jupiter on a star to observable spectroscopic and photometric signals. Models with both frozen convection and an approximation for a perturbation to the convective flux are discussed. Observables are calculated for some real planetary systems to give specific predictions. Time-dependent line broadening and the radial velocity signal during transit are both investigated as methods to provide further insight into the nature of the stellar oscillations. The photometric signal is predicted to be proportional to the inverse square of the orbital period, $P^{-2}$, as in the equilibrium tide approximation. However, the radial velocity signal is predicted to be proportional to $ P^{-1}$, and is therefore much larger at long orbital periods than the signal corresponding to the equilibrium tide approximation, which is proportional to $P^{-3}$. The prospects for detecting these oscillations and the implications for the detection and characterisation of planets are discussed.
High resolution spectroscopy (HRS) has been used to detect a number of species in the atmospheres of hot Jupiters. Key to such detections is accurately and precisely modelled spectra for cross-correlation against the R$gtrsim$20,000 observations. There is a need for the latest generation of opacities which form the basis for high signal-to-noise detections using such spectra. In this study we present and make publicly available cross sections for six molecular species, H$_2$O, CO, HCN, CH$_4$, NH$_3$ and CO$_2$ using the latest line lists most suitable for low- and high-resolution spectroscopy. We focus on the infrared (0.95-5~$mu$m) and between 500-1500~K where these species have strong spectral signatures. We generate these cross sections on a grid of pressures and temperatures typical for the photospheres of super Earth, warm Neptunes and hot Jupiters using the latest H$_2$ and He pressure broadening. We highlight the most prominent infrared spectral features by modelling three representative exoplanets, GJ~1214~b, GJ~3470~b and HD~189733~b, which encompass a wide range in temperature, mass and radii. In addition, we verify the line lists for H$_2$O, CO and HCN with previous high resolution observations of hot Jupiters. However, we are unable to detect CH$_4$ with our new cross sections from HRS observations of HD~102195~b. These high accuracy opacities are critical for atmospheric detections with HRS and will be continually updated as new data becomes available.