Orbital decay of hot Jupiters : coefficients of nonlinear tidal coupling as a function of the stellar host type

Hot Jupiters raise strong tides in their host stars due to their large masses (around a Jupiter mass) and tight orbits (orbital periods P </~ 3 days). These tides remove orbital energy and angular momentum, causing the planet's orbit to decay. The rate of decay depends on the detailed structure of the host star through the coefficients of nonlinear tidal coupling. Here we calculate these coefficients over a range of stellar mass and age on the main sequence (0.8 </= M/M < 1.2). These coefficients provide crucial input for future studies of nonlinear tidal dissipation; our analysis enables these studies to be extended to systems with non-solar-type hosts.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Belland, Brent (Brent R.)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Nevin Weinberg.

• Physics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105625

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/105625