arXiv · astro-ph/0308112
Resonant inclination excitation of migrating giant planets
Abstract
The observed orbits of extrasolar planets suggest that many giant planets migrate a considerable distance towards their parent star as a result of interactions with the protoplanetary disk, and that some of these planets become trapped in eccentricity-exciting mean motion resonances with one another during this migration. Using three-dimensional numerical simulations, we find that as long as the timescale for damping of the planets' eccentricities by the disk is close to or longer than the disk-induced migration timescale, and the outer planet is more than half the mass of the inner, resonant inclination excitation will also occur. Neither the addition of a (simple, fixed) disk potential, nor the introduction of a massive inner planetary system, inhibit entry into the inclination resonance. Therefore, such a mechanism may not be uncommon in the early evolution of a planetary system, and a significant fraction of exoplanetary systems may turn out to be non-coplanar.
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Edward W. Thommes, Jack J. Lissauer. 2003-08-07. Resonant inclination excitation of migrating giant planets. https://doi.org/10.1086/378317
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