您选择的条件: Dong Lai
  • Resonant Excitation of Planetary Eccentricity due to a Dispersing Eccentric Protoplanetary Disk: A New Mechanism of Generating Large Planetary Eccentricities

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We present a new mechanism of generating large planetary eccentricities. This mechanism applies to planets within the inner cavities of their companion protoplanetary disks. A massive disk with an inner truncation may become eccentric due to non-adiabatic effects associated with gas cooling, and can retain its eccentricity in long-lived coherently-precessing eccentric modes; as the disk disperses, the inner planet will encounter a secular resonance with the eccentric disk when the planet and the disk have the same apsidal precession rates; the eccentricity of the planet is then excited to a large value as the system goes through the resonance. In this work, we solve the eccentric modes of a model disk for a wide range of masses. We then adopt an approximate secular dynamics model to calculate the long-term evolution of the "planet + dispersing disk" system. The planet attains a large eccentricity (between 0.1 and 0.6) in our calculations, even though the disk eccentricity is quite small ($\lesssim0.05$). This eccentricity excitation can be understood in terms of the mode conversion (``avoided crossing'') phenomenon associated with the evolution of the "planet + disk" eccentricity eigenstates.

  • Circumbinary Accretion: From Binary Stars to Massive Binary Black Holes

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We review recent works on the dynamics of circumbinary accretion, including time variability, angular momentum transfer between the disk and the binary, and the secular evolution of accreting binaries. These dynamics can impact stellar binary formation/evolution, circumbinary planet formation/migration, and the evolution of (super)massive black-hole binaries. We discuss the dynamics and evolution of inclined/warped circumbinary disks and connect with recent observations of protoplanetary disks. A special kind of circumbinary accretion involves binaries embedded in "big" disks, which may contribute to the mergers of stellar-mass black holes in AGN disks. Highlights include: $\bullet$ Circumbinary accretion is highly variable, being modulated at $P_{\rm b}$ (the binary period) or $\sim 5P_{\rm p}$, depending on the binary eccentricity $e_{\rm b}$ and mass ratio $q_{\rm b}$. $\bullet$ The inner region of the circumbinary disk can develop coherent eccentric structure, which may modulate the accretion and affect the physical processes (e.g. planet migration) taking place in the disk. $\bullet$ Over long timescales, circumbinary accretion steers binaries toward equal masses, and it does not always lead to binary orbital decay, as is commonly assumed. The secular orbital evolution depends on the binary parameters ($e_{\rm b}$ and $q_{\rm b}$), and on the thermodynamic properties of the accreting gas. $\bullet$ A misaligned disk around a low-eccentricity binary tends to evolve toward coplanarity due to viscous dissipation. But when $e_{\rm b}$ is significant, the disk can evolve toward "polar alignment", with the disk plane perpendicular to the binary plane.

  • Eccentricities and Inclinations of Multi-Planet Systems with External Perturbers

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Compact multi-planet systems containing super-Earths or sub-Neptunes, commonly found around solar-type stars, may be surrounded by external giant planet or stellar companions, which can shape the architechture and observability of the inner systems. We present a comprehensive study on the evolution of the inner planetary system subject to the gravitational influence of an eccentric, misaligned outer perturber. Analytic results are derived for the inner planet eccentricities ($e_i$) and mutual inclination ($\theta_{12}$) of the "2-planet + perturber" system, calibrated with numerical secular and N-body integrations, as a function of the perturber mass $m_p$, semi-major axis $a_p$ and inclination angle $\theta_p$. We find that the dynamics of the inner system is determined by the dimensionless parameter $\epsilon_{12}$, given by the ratio between the differential precession rate driven by the perturber and the mutual precession rate of the inner planets. Loosely packed systems (corresponding to $\epsilon_{12} \gg 1$) are more susceptible to eccentricity/inclination excitations by the perturber than tightly packed inner systems (with $\epsilon_{12} \ll 1$) (or singletons), although resonance may occur around $\epsilon_{12}\sim 1$, leading to large $e_i$ and $\theta_{12}$. Dynamical instability may set in for inner planet systems with large excited eccentricities and mutual inclinations. We present a formalism to extend our analytical results to general inner systems with $N>2$ planets and apply our results to constrain possible external companions to the Kepler-11 system. Eccentricity and inclination excitation by external companions may help explain the observational trend that systems with fewer transiting planets are dynamically hotter than those with more transiting planets.

  • Hydrodynamical Evolution of Black-Hole Binaries Embedded in AGN Discs: II. Dependence on Equation of State, Binary Mass, and Separation Scales

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Stellar-mass binary black holes (BBHs) embedded in active galactic nucleus (AGN) discs offer a promising dynamical channel to produce black-hole mergers that are detectable by LIGO/Virgo. Modeling the interactions between the disc gas and the embedded BBHs is crucial to understand their orbital evolution. Using a suite of 2D high-resolution simulations of prograde equal-mass circular binaries in local disc models, we systematically study how their hydrodynamical evolution depends on the equation of state (EOS; including the $\gamma$-law and isothermal EOS) and on the binary mass and separation scales (relative to the supermassive BH mass and the Hill radius, respectively). We find that binaries accrete slower and contract in orbit if the EOS is far from isothermal such that the surrounding gas is diffuse, hot, and turbulent. The typical orbital decay rate is of the order of a few times the mass doubling rate. For a fixed EOS, the accretion flows are denser, hotter, and more turbulent around more massive or tighter binaries. The torque associated with accretion is often comparable to the gravitational torque, so both torques are essential in determining the long-term binary orbital evolution. We carry out additional simulations with non-accreting binaries and find that their orbital evolution can be stochastic and is sensitive to the gravitational softening length, and the secular orbital evolution can be very different from those of accreting binaries. Our results indicate that stellar-mass BBHs may be hardened efficiently under ideal conditions, namely less massive and wider binaries embedded in discs with a non-isothermal EOS.

  • Spin Dynamics of Extrasolar Giant Planets in Planet-Planet Scattering

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Planet-planet scattering best explains the eccentricity distribution of extrasolar giant planets. Past literature showed that the orbits of planets evolve due to planet-planet scattering. This work studies the spin evolution of planets in planet-planet scattering in 2-planet systems. Spin can evolve dramatically due to spin-orbit coupling made possible by the evolving spin and orbital precession during the planet-planet scattering phase. The main source of torque to planet spin is the stellar torque, and the total planet-plane torque contribution is negligible. As a consequence of the evolution of the spin, planets can end up with significant obliquity (the angle between a planet's own orbit normal and spin axis) like planets in our Solar System.

  • High-Eccentricity Migration with Disk-Induced Spin-Orbit Misalignment: a Preference for Perpendicular Hot Jupiters

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: High-eccentricity migration is a likely formation mechanism for many observed hot Jupiters, particularly those with a large misalignment between the stellar spin axis and orbital angular momentum axis of the planet. In one version of high-eccentricity migration, an inclined stellar companion excites von Zeipel-Lidov-Kozai (ZLK) eccentricity oscillations of a cold Jupiter, and tidal dissipation causes the planet's orbit to shrink and circularize. Throughout this process, the stellar spin can evolve chaotically, resulting in highly misaligned hot Jupiters. Previous population studies of this migration mechanism have assumed that the stellar spin is aligned with the planetary orbital angular momentum when the companion begins to induce ZLK oscillations. However, in the presence of a binary companion, the star's obliquity may be significantly excited during the dissipation of its protoplanetary disk. We calculate the stellar obliquities produced in the protoplanetary disk phase and use these to perform an updated population synthesis of ZLK-driven high-eccentricity migration. We find that the resulting obliquity distribution of HJ systems is predominantly retrograde with a broad peak near 90$^\circ$. The distribution we obtain has intriguing similarities to the recently-observed preponderance of perpendicular planets close to their host stars.

  • Hydrodynamical Evolution of Black-Hole Binaries Embedded in AGN Discs

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Stellar-mass binary black holes (BBHs) embedded in active galactic nucleus (AGN) discs are possible progenitors of black-hole mergers detected in gravitational waves by LIGO/VIRGO. To better understand the hydrodynamical evolution of BBHs interacting with the disc gas, we perform a suite of high-resolution 2D simulations of binaries in local disc (shearing-box) models, considering various binary mass ratios, eccentricities and background disc properties. We use the $\gamma$-law equation of state and adopt a robust post-processing treatment to evaluate the mass accretion rate, torque and energy transfer rate on the binary to determine its long-term orbital evolution. We find that circular comparable-mass binaries contract, with an orbital decay rate of a few times the mass doubling rate. Eccentric binaries always experience eccentricity damping. Prograde binaries with higher eccentricities or smaller mass ratios generally have slower orbital decay rates, with some extreme cases exhibiting orbital expansion. The averaged binary mass accretion rate depends on the physical size of the accretor. The accretion flows are highly variable, and the dominant variability frequency is the apparent binary orbital frequency (in the rotating frame around the central massive BH) for circular binaries but gradually shifts to the radial epicyclic frequency as the binary eccentricity increases. Our findings demonstrate that the dynamics of BBHs embedded in AGN discs is quite different from that of isolated binaries in their own circumbinary discs. Furthermore, our results suggest that the hardening timescales of the binaries are much shorter than their migration timescales in the disc, for all reasonable binary and disc parameters.

  • Dynamics of Colombo's Top: Tidal Dissipation and Resonance Capture, With Applications to Oblique Super-Earths, Ultra-Short-Period Planets and Inspiraling Hot Jupiters

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We present a comprehensive theoretical study on the spin evolution of a planet under the combined effects of tidal dissipation and gravitational perturbation from an external companion. Such a "spin + companion" system (called Colombo's top) appears in many [exo]planetary contexts. The competition between the tidal torque (which drives spin-orbit alignment and synchronization) and the gravitational torque from the companion (which drives orbital precession of the planet) gives rise to two possible spin equilibria ("Tidal Cassini Equilibria", tCE) that are stable and attracting: the "simple" tCE1, which typically has a low spin obliquity, and the "resonant" tCE2, which can have a significant obliquity. The latter arises from a spin-orbit resonance and can be broken when the tidal alignment torque is stronger than the precessional torque from the companion. We characterize the long-term evolution of the planetary spin (both magnitude and obliquity) for an arbitrary initial spin orientation, and develop a new theoretical method to analytically obtain the probability of resonance capture driven by tidal dissipation. Applying our general theoretical results to exoplanetary systems, we find that a super-Earth (SE) with an exterior companion can have a substantial probability of being trapped in the high-obliquity tCE2, assuming that SEs have a wide range of primordial obliquities. We also evaluate the recently proposed "obliquity tide" scenarios for the formation of ultra-short-period Earth-mass planets and for the orbital decay of hot Jupiter WASP-12b. We find in both cases that the probability of resonant capture into tCE2 is generally low and that such a high-obliquity state can be easily broken by the required orbital decay.

  • Hydrodynamical Simulations of Circumbinary Accretion: Balance between Heating and Cooling

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Hydrodynamical interaction in circumbinary discs (CBDs) plays a crucial role in various astrophysical systems, ranging from young stellar binaries to supermassive black hole binaries in galactic centers. Most previous simulations of binary-disc systems have adopted locally isothermal equation of state. In this study, we use the grid-based code $\texttt{Athena++}$ to conduct a suite of two-dimensional viscous hydrodynamical simulations of circumbinary accretion on a cartesian grid, resolving the central cavity of the binary. The gas thermodynamics is treated by thermal relaxation towards an equilibrium temperature (based on the constant$-\beta$ cooling ansatz, where $\beta$ is the cooling time in units of the local Keplerian time). Focusing on equal mass, circular binaries in CBDs with (equilibrium) disc aspect ratio $H/R=0.1$, we find that the cooling of the disc gas significantly influences the binary orbital evolution, accretion variability, and CBD morphology, and the effect depends sensitively on the disc viscosity prescriptions. When adopting a constant kinematic viscosity, a finite cooling time ($\beta \gtrsim 0.1$) leads to binary inspiral as opposed to outspiral and the CBD cavity becomes more symmetric. When adopting a dynamically varying $\alpha-$viscosity, binary inspiral only occurs within a narrow range of cooling time (corresponding to $\beta$ around 0.5).

  • Dynamical Tides in Eccentric Binaries Containing Massive Main-Sequence Stars: Analytical Expressions

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Tidal evolution of eccentric binary systems containing at least one massive main-sequence (MS) star plays an important role in the formation scenarios of merging compact-object binaries. The dominant dissipation mechanism in such systems involves tidal excitation of outgoing internal gravity waves at the convective-radiative boundary and dissipation of the waves at the stellar envelope/surface. We have derived analytical expressions for the tidal torque and tidal energy transfer rate in such binaries for arbitrary orbital eccentricities and stellar rotation rates. These expressions can be used to study the spin and orbital evolution of eccentric binaries containing massive MS stars, such as the progenitors of merging neutron star binaries. Applying our results to the PSR J0045-7319 system, which has a massive B-star companion and an observed, rapidly decaying orbit, we find that for the standard radius of convective core based on non-rotating stellar models, the B-star must have a significant retrograde and differential rotation in order to explain the observed orbital decay rate. Alternatively, we suggest that the convective core may be larger as a result of rapid stellar rotation and/or mass transfer to the B-star in the recent past during the post-MS evolution of the pulsar progenitor.

  • Hydrodynamical Simulations of Black-Hole Binary Formation in AGN Disks

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We study the close encounters between two single black holes (BHs) embedded in an AGN disk using a series of global 2D hydrodynamics simulations. We find that when the disk density is sufficiently high, bound BH binaries can be formed by the collision of their circum-single disks. Our analysis demonstrates that, after a BH pair passes the pericenter of their relative trajectory, a gas post-collision drag may slow down the BHs, possibly forcing the two BHs to stay tightly bound. A binary formed by a close encounter can have a compact semi-major axis, large eccentricity, and retrograde orbital angular momentum. We provide a fitting formula that can accurately predict whether a close encounter can form a binary based on the gas mass and the incoming energy of the encounter. This fitting formula can be easily implemented in other long-term simulations that study the dynamical evolution of BHs in AGN disks.

  • Eccentric debris belts reveal the dynamical history of the companion exoplanet

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: In recent years, a number of eccentric debris belts have been observed in extrasolar systems. The most common explanation for their shape is the presence of a nearby eccentric planetary companion. The gravitational perturbation from such a companion would induce periodic eccentricity variations on the planetesimals in the belt, with a range of precession frequencies. The overall expected shape is an eccentric belt with a finite minimum width. However, several observed eccentric debris discs have been found to exhibit a narrower width than the theoretical expectation. In this paper, we study two mechanisms that can produce this small width: (i) the protoplanetary disc can interact with the planet and/or the planetesimals, slowly driving the eccentricity of the former and damping the eccentricities of the latter; (ii) the companion planet could have gained its eccentricity stochastically, through planet-planet scatterings. We show that under appropriate conditions, both of these scenarios offer a plausible way to reduce the minimum width of an eccentric belt exterior to a perturbing planet. However, the effects of protoplanetary discs are diminished at large separations (a > 10 au) due to the scarcity of gas and the limited disc lifetime. These findings suggest that one can use the shape and width of debris discs to shed light on the evolution of extrasolar systems, constraining the protoplanetary disc properties and the prevalence of planet-planet scatterings. Further observations of debris-harbouring systems could confirm whether thin debris belts are a common occurrence, or the results of rare initial conditions or evolutionary processes.

  • Long-term Evolution of Tightly-Packed Stellar Black Holes in AGN Disks: Formation of Merging Black-Hole Binaries via Close Encounters

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We study the long-term evolution of two or more stellar black holes (BHs) on initially separated but unstable circular orbits around a supermassive BH (SMBH). Such a close-packed orbital configuration can naturally arise from BH migrations in the AGN disk. Dynamical instability of the orbits leads to recurring close encounters between two BHs, during which the BH separation $r_{\rm p}$ becomes less than the Hill radius $R_{\rm H}$. In the rare very close encounters (with $r_{\rm p}$ several orders of magnitude less than $R_{\rm H}$), a tight merging BH binary can form with the help of gravitational wave emission. We use $N$-body simulations to study the time evolution of close encounters of various degrees of "closeness" and the property of the resulting binary BH mergers. For a typical "SMBH + 2 BHs" system, the averaged cumulative number of close encounters (with $r_{\rm p} \lesssim R_{\rm H}$) scales approximately as $\propto t^{0.5}$. The minimum encounter separation $r_{\rm p}$ follows a linear cumulative distribution $P(展开 -->

  • Jupiter's Dynamical Love Number

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Recent observations by the {\it Juno} spacecraft have revealed that the tidal Love number $k_2$ of Jupiter is $4\%$ lower than the hydrostatic value. We present a simple calculation of the dynamical Love number of Jupiter that explains the observed "anomaly". The Love number is usually dominated by the response of the (rotation-modified) f-modes of the planet. Our method also allows for efficient computation of high-order dynamical Love numbers. While the inertial-mode contributions to the Love numbers are negligible, a sufficiently strong stratification in a large region of the planet's interior would induce significant g-mode responses and influence the measured Love numbers.

  • Non-Trivial Oblique Spin Equilibria of Super-Earths in Multi-planetary Systems

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Many Sun-like stars are observed to host close-in super-Earths (SEs) as part of a multi-planetary system. In such a system, the spin of the SE evolves due to spin-orbit resonances and tidal dissipation. In the absence of tides, the planet's obliquity can evolve chaotically to large values. However, for close-in SEs, tidal dissipation is significant and suppresses the chaos, instead driving the spin into various steady states. We find that the attracting steady states of the SE's spin are more numerous than previously thought, due to the discovery of a new class of "mixed-mode" high-obliquity equilibria. These new equilibria arise due to subharmonic responses of the parametrically-driven planetary spin, an unusual phenomenon that arises in nonlinear systems. Many SEs should therefore have significant obliquities, with potentially large impacts on the physical conditions of their surfaces and atmospheres.

  • Hydrodynamical Simulations of Circumbinary Accretion: Balance between Heating and Cooling

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Hydrodynamical interaction in circumbinary discs (CBDs) plays a crucial role in various astrophysical systems, ranging from young stellar binaries to supermassive black hole binaries in galactic centers. Most previous simulations of binary-disc systems have adopted locally isothermal equation of state. In this study, we use the grid-based code $\texttt{Athena++}$ to conduct a suite of two-dimensional viscous hydrodynamical simulations of circumbinary accretion on a cartesian grid, resolving the central cavity of the binary. The gas thermodynamics is treated by thermal relaxation towards an equilibrium temperature (based on the constant$-\beta$ cooling ansatz, where $\beta$ is the cooling time in units of the local Keplerian time). Focusing on equal mass, circular binaries in CBDs with (equilibrium) disc aspect ratio $H/R=0.1$, we find that the cooling of the disc gas significantly influences the binary orbital evolution, accretion variability, and CBD morphology, and the effect depends sensitively on the disc viscosity prescriptions. When adopting a constant kinematic viscosity, a finite cooling time ($\beta \gtrsim 0.1$) leads to binary inspiral as opposed to outspiral and the CBD cavity becomes more symmetric. When adopting a dynamically varying $\alpha-$viscosity, binary inspiral only occurs within a narrow range of cooling time (corresponding to $\beta$ around 0.5).