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J. Dokter, E. Sandquist (San Diego State U.), D. Lin (U. California, Santa Cruz), A. Burkert (MPIA/Heidelberg)
We conduct simulations of the hydrodynamical interaction between giant planets and evolved stars of approximately solar mass with the purpose of testing the observability of signatures of the merger process. As the evolution of the host star pushes its surface outward in radius, it can begin to strongly interact with planets that were on orbits farther and farther from the star. The evolutionary state of the star affects the depth to which the giant star penetrates before evaporating, the amount of dilution or burning of the planet's chemical contaminants, and the disturbance of the star's envelope. In this study, we will look at observable consequences of star-planet interactions (Siess & Livio 1999a,b) while the star is in the subgiant phase --- particularly lithium abundances observed in giant stars, stellar rotation, and infrared excesses.
We would like to thank Compaq for supplying the computer hardware that was used to carry out this project.