D. Veras, P.J. Armitage (University of Colorado at Boulder)
In most extrasolar planetary systems, the present orbits of known giant planets admit the existence of stable terrestrial planets. Those same giant planets, however, have typically eccentric orbits that hint at violent early dynamics less benign for low-mass planet formation. Under the assumption that massive planet eccentricities are the endpoint of gravitational scattering in multiple planet systems, we study the evolution of the building blocks of terrestrial planets during the scattering process. We find that, typically, evolutionary sequences that result in a moderately eccentric giant planet orbiting at a semimajor axis of approximately 2.5 AU eject over 95% of the material initially present within the habitable zone. Crossing orbits largely trigger the ejection and leave the surviving material with a wide dispersion in semimajor axis, eccentricity, and inclination. Based on these results, we predict that radial velocity follow-up of terrestrial planet systems found by Kepler will find that these are anticorrelated with the presence of eccentric giant planets orbiting at a few AU.
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #2
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.