The Influence of General Relativity on the Spins of Celestial Bodies in Inclined Orbits
Through the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect, several hot Jupiters have been found to exhibit spin–orbit misalignment and even retrograde orbits. The high obliquity observed in these planets can be attributed to two primary formation mechanisms, as summarized in the existing literature. First, the host st...
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2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada5fc |
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| author | Huan-Rong Yuan Ying Wang Xin Wu Ji-Wei Xie Hui-Gen Liu Ji-Lin Zhou Wei Sun |
| author_facet | Huan-Rong Yuan Ying Wang Xin Wu Ji-Wei Xie Hui-Gen Liu Ji-Lin Zhou Wei Sun |
| author_sort | Huan-Rong Yuan |
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| description | Through the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect, several hot Jupiters have been found to exhibit spin–orbit misalignment and even retrograde orbits. The high obliquity observed in these planets can be attributed to two primary formation mechanisms, as summarized in the existing literature. First, the host star's spin becomes misaligned with the planetary disk during the late stages of star formation, primarily due to chaotic accretion and magnetic interactions between the star and the planetary disk. Second, the orbital inclination of an individual planet can be excited by dynamical processes such as planet–planet scattering, the Lidov–Kozai cycle, and secular chaos within the framework of Newtonian mechanics. This study introduces a third mechanism, where, within the framework of general relativity, the post-Newtonian spin–orbit coupling term induces precession of the host star's spin around the orbital angular momentum. The orbital inclination, relative to a reference plane, can expand the range of deviation in the spatial orientation of the bodies’ spins from the plane's normal. The varying amplitude and period of spin precession for both the star and the planet are derived theoretically, and the results, which can be applied without restriction, agree well with numerical simulations. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-cce40f11acfe43129e64a576c0fcf9982025-01-30T06:22:04ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-019801610.3847/1538-4357/ada5fcThe Influence of General Relativity on the Spins of Celestial Bodies in Inclined OrbitsHuan-Rong Yuan0Ying Wang1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0506-054XXin Wu2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1223-8978Ji-Wei Xie3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6472-5348Hui-Gen Liu4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5162-1753Ji-Lin Zhou5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1680-2940Wei Sun6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2620-6835School of Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, Shanghai University of Engineering Science , Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China ; wangying424524@163.comSchool of Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, Shanghai University of Engineering Science , Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China ; wangying424524@163.comSchool of Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, Shanghai University of Engineering Science , Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China ; wangying424524@163.comSchool of Astronomy and Space Science and Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics in Ministry of Education, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Astronomy and Space Science and Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics in Ministry of Education, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Astronomy and Space Science and Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics in Ministry of Education, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, Shanghai University of Engineering Science , Shanghai 201620, People’s Republic of China ; wangying424524@163.comThrough the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect, several hot Jupiters have been found to exhibit spin–orbit misalignment and even retrograde orbits. The high obliquity observed in these planets can be attributed to two primary formation mechanisms, as summarized in the existing literature. First, the host star's spin becomes misaligned with the planetary disk during the late stages of star formation, primarily due to chaotic accretion and magnetic interactions between the star and the planetary disk. Second, the orbital inclination of an individual planet can be excited by dynamical processes such as planet–planet scattering, the Lidov–Kozai cycle, and secular chaos within the framework of Newtonian mechanics. This study introduces a third mechanism, where, within the framework of general relativity, the post-Newtonian spin–orbit coupling term induces precession of the host star's spin around the orbital angular momentum. The orbital inclination, relative to a reference plane, can expand the range of deviation in the spatial orientation of the bodies’ spins from the plane's normal. The varying amplitude and period of spin precession for both the star and the planet are derived theoretically, and the results, which can be applied without restriction, agree well with numerical simulations.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada5fcSolar-planetary interactionsHot JupitersExoplanet evolution |
| spellingShingle | Huan-Rong Yuan Ying Wang Xin Wu Ji-Wei Xie Hui-Gen Liu Ji-Lin Zhou Wei Sun The Influence of General Relativity on the Spins of Celestial Bodies in Inclined Orbits The Astrophysical Journal Solar-planetary interactions Hot Jupiters Exoplanet evolution |
| title | The Influence of General Relativity on the Spins of Celestial Bodies in Inclined Orbits |
| title_full | The Influence of General Relativity on the Spins of Celestial Bodies in Inclined Orbits |
| title_fullStr | The Influence of General Relativity on the Spins of Celestial Bodies in Inclined Orbits |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Influence of General Relativity on the Spins of Celestial Bodies in Inclined Orbits |
| title_short | The Influence of General Relativity on the Spins of Celestial Bodies in Inclined Orbits |
| title_sort | influence of general relativity on the spins of celestial bodies in inclined orbits |
| topic | Solar-planetary interactions Hot Jupiters Exoplanet evolution |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada5fc |
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