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Alexander Mustill. Profile picture.

Alexander Mustill

Researcher

Alexander Mustill. Profile picture.

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

Author

  • D. Veras
  • A.~J. Mustill
  • B.~T. Gänsicke
  • S. Redfield
  • N. Georgakarakos
  • A.~B. Bowler
  • M.~J.~S. Lloyd

Summary, in English

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.

Department/s

  • Lund Observatory

Publishing year

2016-06-01

Language

English

Pages

3942-3967

Publication/Series

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Volume

458

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Topic

  • Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Keywords

  • Methods: numerical
  • celestial mechanics
  • minor planets
  • asteroids: general
  • planets and satellites: dynamical evolution and stability
  • protoplanetary discs
  • white dwarfs

Status

Published

Project

  • Wallenberg Academy Fellow Project

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1365-2966