Tidal Inflation Reconciles Low-Density Sub-Saturns with Core Accretion

While the Solar System contains no planets between the sizes of Uranus and Saturn, our current exoplanet census includes several dozen such planets with well-measured masses and radii. These sub-Saturns exhibit a diversity of bulk densities, ranging from ~$0.1-3\ \rm{g\ cm}^{-3}$. When modeled simply as hydrogen/helium envelopes atop rocky cores, this diversity in densities translates to a diversity in planetary envelope fractions, f_\rm{env}=M_\rm{env}/M_p ranging from ~$10\%$ to ~$50\%$. Planets with f_\rm{env}\sim50\% pose a challenge to traditional models of giant planet formation by core-nucleated accretion, which predict the onset of runaway gas accretion when M_\rm{env}\sim M_\rm{core}. Here we show that many of these apparent f_\rm{env}\sim50\% planets are less envelope rich than they seem, after accounting for tidal heating. We present a new framework for modeling sub-Saturn interiors that incorporates envelope inflation due to tides, which are driven by the observed non-zero eccentricities, as well as potential obliquities. Consequently, when we apply our models to known sub-Saturns, we infer lower f_\rm{env} than tides-free estimates. We present a case study of K2-19 b, a moderately eccentric sub-Saturn. Neglecting tides, K2-19 b appears to have f_\rm{env}\sim50\%, poised precariously near the runaway threshold; by including tides, we find f_\rm{env}\sim10\%, resolving the tension. Through a systematic analysis of $4-8\ R_{\oplus}$ planets, we find that most (but not all) of the similarly envelope-rich planets have more modest envelopes of f_\rm{env}\sim10\%-20\%. Thus, many sub-Saturns may be understood as sub-Neptunes that have undergone significant radius inflation, rather than a separate class of objects. Tidal radius inflation likely plays an important role in other size classes of planets including ultra-low-density Jupiter-size planets like WASP-107 b.