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Planets are not Points: Structure Evolution and Dynamical Evolution are Intertwined

October 10, 2024
4:35 PM - 5:05 PM
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Pupin 1402

Seminar by Tiger Lu, Yale

The two subfields of planetary structure evolution and planetary dynamics are two rich and complex fields that have advanced in lockstep, but independently of one another. I will discuss how accounting for minor interior structure evolution of a planet can have a profound impact on its dynamics and the architecture of the resulting system. Using full N-body simulations, I present a detailed case study of the HAT-P-11 system, which is a bizarre system with two misaligned, eccentric planets. I show that a combination of planet-planet scattering and Kozai-Lidov migration is capable of reproducing the present-day configuration of the system, but ONLY if these minute structure effects are accounted for.

Host: Jane Huang