arXiv subjects

Nikolaos Georgakarakos

Publications and source records attributed to Nikolaos Georgakarakos.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Habitable Zones in Binary Star Systems: A Zoology

Several concepts have been brought forward to determine where terrestrial planets are likely to remain habitable in multi-stellar environments. Isophote-based habitable zones, for instance, rely on insolation geometry to predict habitability, whereas radiative habitable zones take the orbital motion of a potentially habitable planet into account. Dynamically informed habitable zones include gravitational perturbations on planetary orbits, and full scale, self consistent simulations promise detailed insights into the evolution of select terrestrial worlds. All of the above approaches agree that stellar multiplicity does not preclude habitability. Predictions on where to look for habitable worlds in such environments can differ between concepts. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of current approaches and present simple analytic estimates for the various types of habitable zones in binary star systems.

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arXiv2019

Do the planets in the HD 34445 system really exist?

In 2010 the first planet was discovered around star HD 34445. Recently, another five planets were announced orbiting the same star. It is a rather dense multi-planet system with some of its planets having separations of fractions of an au and minimum masses ranging from Neptune to sub-Jupiter ones. Given the number of planets and the various uncertainties in their masses and orbital elements, the HD 34445 planetary system is quite interesting as there is the potential for mean motion and secular resonances that could render the outcome of its dynamical evolution and fate an open question. In this paper we investigate the dynamical stability of the six planet system in order to check the validity of the orbital solution acquired. This is achieved by a series of numerical experiments, where the dynamical evolution of the system is tested on different timescales. We vary the orbital elements and masses of the system within the error ranges provided. We find that for a large area of the parameter space we can produce stable configurations and therefore conclude it is very likely that the HD 34445 planetary system is real. Some discussion about the potential habitability of the system is also done.

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arXiv2019

On the enlargement of habitable zones around binary stars in hostile environments

We investigate the hypothesis that the size of the habitable zone around hardened binaries in dense star-forming regions increases. Our results indicate that this hypothesis is essentially incorrect. Although certain binary star configurations permit extended habitable zones, such setups typically require all orbits in a system to be near circular. In all other cases planets can only remain habitable if they display an extraordinarily high climate inertia.

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arXiv2018

Effects of non-Kozai mutual inclinations on two-planet system stability through all phases of stellar evolution

Previous full-lifetime simulations of single-star multi-planet systems across all phases of stellar evolution have predominately assumed coplanar or nearly-coplanar orbits. Here we assess the consequences of this assumption by removing it and exploring the effect of giant branch mass loss on the stability of two-planet systems with small to moderate non-Kozai (<40 degrees) relative inclinations. We run nearly 10^4 simulations over 14 Gyr for F-star, A-star and B-star planet hosts, incorporating main sequence stellar masses of 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 5.0 solar masses, and initial planetary semimajor axis ratios that straddle their three-dimensional Hill stability limits. We find that the near-coplanar assumption can approximate well the stability frequencies and critical separations found for higher inclinations, except around strong mean-motion commensurabilities. Late instabilities -- after the star has become a white dwarf -- occur throughout the explored mutual inclination range. Consequently, non-Kozai mutual inclination should not be used as a predictive orbital proxy for determining which white dwarf multi-planet systems discovered by Gaia should represent high-priority follow-up targets for the detection of metal pollution and planetary debris discs.

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arXiv2018

Exocomets in the Proxima Centauri system and their importance for water transport

The scenario and efficiency of water transport by icy asteroids and comets are still amongst the most important unresolved questions of planetary systems. A better understanding of cometary dynamics in extrasolar systems shall provide information about cometary reservoirs and give an insight into water transport especially to planets in the habitable zone. The detection of Proxima Centauri-b (PCb), which moves in the habitable zone of this system, triggered a debate whether or not this planet can be habitable. In this work, we focus on the stability of an additional planet in the system and on water transport by minor bodies. We perform numerous N-body simulations with PCb and an outer Oort-cloud like reservoir of comets. We investigate close encounters and collisions with the planet, which are important for the transport of water. Observers found hints for a second planet with a period longer than 60 days. Our dynamical studies show that two planets in this system are stable even for a more massive second planet (~12 Earth masses). Furthermore, we perform simulations including exocomets, a second planet, and the influence of the binary Alpha Centauri. The studies on the dynamics of exocomets reveal that the outer limit for water transport is around 200 au. In addition we show that water transport would be possible from a close-in planetesimal cloud (1-4 au). From our simulations, based on typical M-star protoplanetary disks, we estimate the water mass delivered to the planets up to 51 Earth oceans.

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arXiv2018

Giant planets: good neighbors for habitable worlds?

The presence of giant planets influences potentially habitable worlds in numerous ways. Massive celestial neighbors can facilitate the formation of planetary cores and modify the influx of asteroids and comets towards Earth-analogs later on. Furthermore, giant planets can indirectly change the climate of terrestrial worlds by gravitationally altering their orbits. Investigating 147 well characterized exoplanetary systems known to date that host a main sequence star and a giant planet we show that the presence of 'giant neighbors' can reduce a terrestrial planet's chances to remain habitable, even if both planets have stable orbits. In a small fraction of systems, however, giant planets slightly increase the extent of habitable zones provided the terrestrial world has a high climate inertia. In providing constraints on where giant planets cease to affect the habitable zone size in a detrimental fashion, we identify prime targets in the search for habitable worlds.

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arXiv2016

Effects of variable eccentricity on the climate of an Earth-like world

The Kepler era of exoplanetary discovery has presented the Astronomical community with a cornucopia of planetary systems very different from the one which we inhabit. It has long been known that Jupiter plays a major role in the orbital parameters of Mars and it's climate, but there is also a long-standing belief that Jupiter would play a similar role for Earth if not for its large moon. Using a three dimensional general circulation model (3-D GCM) with a fully-coupled ocean we simulate what would happen to the climate of an Earth-like world if Mars did not exist, but a Jupiter-like planet was much closer to Earth's orbit. We investigate two scenarios that involve evolution of the Earth-like planet's orbital eccentricity from 0--0.283 over 6500 years, and from 0--0.066 on a time scale of 4500 years. In both cases we discover that they would maintain relatively temperate climates over the time-scales simulated. More Earth-like planets in multi-planet systems will be discovered as we continue to survey the skies and the results herein show that the proximity of large gas giant planets may play an important role in the habitability of these worlds. These are the first such 3-D GCM simulations using a fully-coupled ocean with a planetary orbit that evolves over time due to the presence of a giant planet.

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arXiv2016

Binary star influence on post-main-sequence multi-planet stability

Nearly every star known to host planets will become a white dwarf, and nearly 100 planet-hosts are now known to be accompanied by binary stellar companions. Here, we determine how a binary companion triggers instability in otherwise unconditionally stable single-star two-planet systems during the giant branch and white dwarf phases of the planet host. We perform about 700 full-lifetime (14 Gyr) simulations with A0 and F0 primary stars and secondary K2 companions, and identify the critical binary distance within which instability is triggered at any point during stellar evolution. We estimate this distance to be about seven times the outer planet separation, for circular binaries. Our results help characterize the fates of planetary systems, and in particular which ones might yield architectures that are conducive to generating observable heavy metal pollution in white dwarf atmospheres.

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arXiv2016

Long term evolution of planetary systems with a terrestrial planet and a giant planet

We study the long term orbital evolution of a terrestrial planet under the gravitational perturbations of a giant planet. In particular, we are interested in situations where the two planets are in the same plane and are relatively close. We examine both possible configurations: the giant planet orbit being either outside or inside the orbit of the smaller planet. The perturbing potential is expanded to high orders and an analytical solution of the terrestrial planetary orbit is derived. The analytical estimates are then compared against results from the numerical integration of the full equations of motion and we find that the analytical solution works reasonably well. An interesting finding is that the new analytical estimates improve greatly the predictions for the timescales of the orbital evolution of the terrestrial planet compared to an octupole order expansion. Finally, we briefly discuss possible applications of the analytical estimates in astrophysical problems.

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arXiv2016

Full-lifetime simulations of multiple unequal-mass planets across all phases of stellar evolution

We know that planetary systems are just as common around white dwarfs as around main sequence stars. However, self-consistently linking a planetary system across these two phases of stellar evolution through the violent giant branch poses computational challenges, and previous studies restricted architectures to equal-mass planets. Here, we remove this constraint and perform over 450 numerical integrations over a Hubble time (14 Gyr) of packed planetary systems with unequal-mass planets. We characterize the resulting trends as a function of planet order and mass. We find that intrusive radial incursions in the vicinity of the white dwarf become less likely as the dispersion amongst planet masses increases. The orbital meandering which may sustain a sufficiently dynamic environment around a white dwarf to explain observations is more dependent on the presence of terrestrial-mass planets than any variation in planetary mass. Triggering unpacking or instability during the white dwarf phase is comparably easy for systems of unequal-mass planets and systems of equal-mass planets; instabilities during the giant branch phase remain rare and require fine-tuning of initial conditions. We list the key dynamical features of each simulation individually as a potential guide for upcoming discoveries.

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arXiv2015

Analytic orbit propagation for transiting circumbinary planets

The herein presented analytical framework fully describes the motion of coplanar systems consisting of a stellar binary and a planet orbiting both stars on orbital as well as secular timescales. Perturbations of the Runge-Lenz vector are used to derive short period evolution of the system, while octupole secular theory is applied to describe its long term behaviour. A post Newtonian correction on the stellar orbit is included. The planetary orbit is initially circular and the theory developed here assumes that the planetary eccentricity remains relatively small (e_2<0.2). Our model is tested against results from numerical integrations of the full equations of motion and is then applied to investigate the dynamical history of some of the circumbinary planetary systems discovered by NASA's Kepler satellite. Our results suggest that the formation history of the systems Kepler-34 and Kepler-413 has most likely been different from the one of Kepler-16, Kepler-35, Kepler-38 and Kepler-64, since the observed planetary eccentricities for those systems are not compatible with the assumption of initially circular orbits.

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arXiv2014

Dynamics and Habitability in Binary Star Systems

Determining planetary habitability is a complex matter, as the interplay between a planet's physical and atmospheric properties with stellar insolation has to be studied in a self consistent manner. Standardized atmospheric models for Earth-like planets exist and are commonly accepted as a reference for estimates of Habitable Zones. In order to define Habitable Zone boundaries, circular orbital configurations around main sequence stars are generally assumed. In gravitationally interacting multibody systems, such as double stars, however, planetary orbits are forcibly becoming non circular with time. Especially in binary star systems even relatively small changes in a planet's orbit can have a large impact on habitability. Hence, we argue that a minimum model for calculating Habitable Zones in binary star systems has to include dynamical interactions.

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arXiv2014

Eccentricity generation in hierarchical triple systems with non-coplanar and initially circular orbits

In a previous paper, we developed a technique for estimating the inner eccentricity in coplanar hierarchical triple systems on initially circular orbits, with comparable masses and with well separated components, based on an expansion of the rate of change of the Runge-Lenz vector. Now, the same technique is extended to non-coplanar orbits. However, it can only be applied to systems with ${I_{0}<39.23^{\circ}}$ or ${I_{0}>140.77^{\circ}}$, where ${I}$ is the inclination of the two orbits, because of complications arising from the so-called 'Kozai effect'. The theoretical model is tested against results from numerical integrations of the full equations of motion.

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arXiv2014

Eccentricity generation in hierarchical triple systems with coplanar and initially circular orbits

We develop a technique for estimating the inner eccentricity in hierarchical triple systems with well separated components. We investigate systems with initially circular and coplanar orbits and comparable masses. The technique is based on an expansion of the rate of change of the Runge-Lenz vector for calculating short period terms by using first order perturbation theory. The combination of the short period terms with terms arising from octupole level secular theory, results in the derivation of a rather simple formula for the eccentricity of the inner binary. The theoretical results are tested against numerical integrations of the full equations of motion. Comparison is also made with other results on the subject.

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arXiv2014

Eccentricity evolution in hierarchical triple systems with eccentric outer binaries

We develop a technique for estimating the inner eccentricity in hierarchical triple systems, with the inner orbit being initially circular, while the outer one is eccentric. We consider coplanar systems with well separated components and comparable masses. The derivation of short period terms is based on an expansion of the rate of change of the Runge-Lenz vector. Then, the short period terms are combined with secular terms, obtained by means of canonical perturbation theory. The validity of the theoretical equations is tested by numerical integrations of the full equations of motion.

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arXiv2014

Eccentricity generation in hierarchical triple systems: the planetary regime

In previous papers, we developed a technique for estimating the inner eccentricity in hierarchical triple systems, with the inner orbit being initially circular. We considered systems with well separated components and different initial setups (e.g. coplanar and non-coplanar orbits). However, the systems we examined had comparable masses. In the present paper, the validity of some of the formulae derived previously is tested by numerically integrating the full equations of motion for systems with smaller mass ratios (from ${10^{-3} \hspace{0.2cm} \mbox{to} \hspace{0.2cm} 10^{3}}$, i.e. systems with Jupiter-sized bodies). There is also discussion about HD217107 and its planetary companions.

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arXiv2014

Escape distribution for an inclined billiard

H${\acute{e}}$non [8] used an inclined billiard to investigate aspects of chaotic scattering which occur in satellite encounters and in other situations. His model consisted of a piecewise mapping which described the motion of a point particle bouncing elastically on two disks. A one parameter family of orbits, named h-orbits, was obtained by starting the particle at rest from a given height. We obtain an analytical expression for the escape distribution of the h-orbits, which is also compared with results from numerical simulations. Finally, some discussion is made about possible applications of the h-orbits in connection with Hill's problem.

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arXiv2014

Stability criteria for hierarchical triple systems

In this paper, we give a summary of stability criteria that have been derived for hierarchical triple systems over the past few decades. We give a brief description and we discuss the criteria that are based on the generalisation of the concept of zero velocity surfaces of the restricted three body problem, to the general case. We also present criteria that have to do with escape of one of the bodies. Then, we talk about the criteria that have been derived using data from numerical integrations. Finally, we report on criteria that involve the concept of chaos. In all cases, wherever possible, we discuss advantages and disadvantages of the criteria and the methods their derivation was based on, and some comparison is made in several cases.

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