Resonant Super-Earths Dancing With EKL Oscillations: TTV Phase Excitation and Resonance Disruption by EKL Interactions between a Cold Jupiter and Stellar Companion

Abstract

Near-resonant Kepler planets are dynamically hot, as evidenced by nonzero transit timing variation (TTV) phases, indicating that free eccentricities are not damped. Recent observations suggest that circulating near-resonant planets tend to be dynamically unstable, and hence dynamically hot, likely representing an intermediate stage in the close-in super-Earth population at young ages. We investigate whether a cold Jupiter interacting with a stellar companion through the eccentric Kozai-Lidov mechanism (EKL) can excite TTV phases and increase the libration amplitude of resonant angles in close-in resonant pairs. We find that the EKL model that drives the observed eccentricity of cold Jupiters can also excite TTV phases, increase the libration amplitude of resonant angles away from ideal geometric alignment, and even disrupt them in a significant fraction of planetary systems in our simulated samples over 16 Myr. We also find that the TTV phases of the resonant pairs tend to be small (< 90 degrees), while the resonant angles are more easily elevated to become circulating during EKL excitation.