Exoplanetology: Exoplanets & Exomoons

Dynamical Behaviour of Multiplanet Systems Close to Their Stability Limit

By Keith Cowing
astro-ph.EP
May 8, 2014
Filed under
Dynamical Behaviour of Multiplanet Systems Close to Their Stability Limit

The dynamics of systems of two and three planets, initially placed on circular and nearly coplanar orbits, is explored in the proximity of their stability limit.

The evolution of a large number of systems is numerically computed and their dynamical behaviour is investigated with the frequency map analysis as chaos indicator. Following the guidance of this analysis, it is found that for two–planet systems the dependence of the Hill limit on the planet mass, usually made explicit through the Hill’s radius parametrization, does not appear to be fully adequate.

In addition, frequent cases of stable chaos are found in the proximity of the Hill limit. For three–planet systems, the usual approach adopted in numerical explorations of their stability, where the planets are initially separated by multiples of the mutual Hill radius, appears too reducing.

A detailed sampling of the parameter space reveals that systems with more packed inner planets are stable well within previous estimates of the stability limit. This suggests that a two–dimensional approach is needed to outline when three–planet systems are dynamically stable.

F. Marzari (Submitted on 7 May 2014)

Comments: 7 pages, 3 figures, Accepted on MNRAS

Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)

Cite as: arXiv:1405.1667 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:1405.1667v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)

Submission history From: Francesco Marzari Dr. [v1] Wed, 7 May 2014 16:48:13 GMT (822kb)

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻