Evolution of the Planetary Obliquity: The Eccentric Kozai-Lidov Mechanism Coupled with Tide
Abstract
The planetary obliquity plays a significant role in determining physical properties of planetary surfaces and climate. As direct detection is constrained due to the present observation accuracy, kinetic theories are helpful to predict the evolution of the planetary obliquity. Here the coupling effect between the eccentric Kozai-Lidov (EKL) effect and the equilibrium tide is extensively investigated, the planetary obliquity performs to follow two kinds of secular evolution paths, based on the conservation of total angular momentum. The equilibrium timescale of the planetary obliquity varies along with , which is defined as the initial timescale ratio of the tidal dissipation and secular perturbation. We numerically derive the linear relationship between and with the maximum likelihood method. The spin-axis orientation of S-type terrestrials orbiting M-dwarfs reverses over when , then enter the quasi-equilibrium state between and , while the maximum obliquity can reach when . Numerical simulations show that the maximum obliquity increases with the semi-major axis ratio /, but is not so sensitive to the eccentricity . The likelihood of obliquity flip for S-type terrestrials in general systems with AU is closely related to . The observed potential oblique S-type planets HD 42936 b, GJ 86 Ab and Boot Ab are explored to have a great possibility to be head-down over the secular evolution of spin.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2308.13923,
title = {Evolution of the Planetary Obliquity: The Eccentric Kozai-Lidov Mechanism Coupled with Tide},
author = {Xiumin Huang and Jianghui Ji and Shangfei Liu and Ruobing Dong and Su Wang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2308.13923},
year = {2024}
}
Comments
18 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ