Origins of Spin-Orbit Misalignments in Extrasolar Planetary Systems

太阳系外行星系统自旋轨道错位的起源

• 批准号: 1517936
• 负责人: Konstantin Batygin
• 金额: $ 33.87万
• 依托单位: California Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-08-15 至 2019-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1517936&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Origins; Spin; Orbit; Misalignments; Extrasolar

The earliest searches for extrasolar planets uncovered an unexpected class of giant planets that orbit twenty times closer to their host stars than the Earth does to the Sun. Just how these planets came to orbit so close to their host star has become even more perplexing, as recent observations have shown that some of these planets orbit in direction that does not correspond with the star's spin, unlike planets in our solar system. The PI will conduct a comprehensive theoretical study of the key physical processes that act to sculpt planetary systems, including our own. This project will provide a strong basis for the training of a graduate student. The PI will also mentor high school students through Caltech's "summer research connection" program.This theoretical/computational investigation will focus on reconciling smooth nebular-driven migration of giant planets and large spin-orbit misalignments through the disk-torquing mechanism. The effects of dynamical evolution within multiple star systems on the large-scale structure of the planet-forming disks will be examined, and the possibility of chaotic evolution of stellar spin axes will be quantified. The dependence of the misalignment amplitude on the specific modes of magnetic and gravitational disk-star coupling will be critically analyzed, with an eye towards explaining the observed correlation between orbital obliquity and stellar effective temperature.

最早的太阳系外行星搜索发现了一类意想不到的巨行星，它们的轨道距离其宿主恒星的距离是地球距离太阳的20倍。 这些行星是如何如此接近它们的主星星的轨道变得更加令人困惑，因为最近的观测表明，这些行星中的一些行星的轨道方向与星星的旋转方向不一致，这与我们太阳系中的行星不同。PI将对塑造行星系统（包括我们自己的行星系统）的关键物理过程进行全面的理论研究。该项目将为研究生的培养提供坚实的基础。 PI还将通过加州理工学院的“夏季研究联系”项目指导高中生。这一理论/计算研究将侧重于通过盘扭矩机制协调平滑的星云驱动的巨行星迁移和大的自旋轨道错位。将研究多个星星系统内的动力学演化对行星形成盘的大尺度结构的影响，并将量化恒星自旋轴混沌演化的可能性。失准振幅的依赖性的特定模式的磁和引力盘星耦合将进行严格的分析，着眼于解释观测到的轨道的相关性和恒星的有效温度。