Star-Planet Interaction: Wave Structures and Wing-Wing Interaction

Abstract

Electromagnetic Star-Planet Interaction (SPI) describes the phenomenon, when a planet couples to its host star via electromagnetic forces. Alfvén waves can establish such a coupling by forming Alfvén wings. SPI allows phenomena that we do not know from the Solar System. Wing-wing interaction is such an example, where the Alfvén wings of two planets merge and interact non-linearly. In this paper we focus on the effects that SPI has on other planets and the stellar wind. First, we analyse the different wave structures connected to SPI. The second part then investigates wing-wing interaction. Our study applies a magnetohydrodynamic model to describe a stellar system with multiple possible planets. As an example, we chose TRAPPIST-1 and its two innermost planets. We extended the PLUTO code to simulate collisions between atmospheric neutral particles and plasma ions. Neutral gas clouds imitate the planets and move through the simulation domain. That allows the simulation of fully time-dependent stellar systems. We analysed the wave structures, which result from the interaction between stellar wind and TRAPPIST-1 b. The inward going wave structure is an Alfvén wing. The outward going part of the interaction consists of an Alfvén wing, slow mode waves, the planetary wake and a slow shock. We quantified the strength of the respective wave perturbations at the outer planets to be on the order of 10\% to 40\% of the local background values of thermal, magnetic and dynamic pressure. Wing-wing interaction occurs due to the relative position of two planets during their conjunction and shows three phases. First there is an initial, non-linear intensification of the Poynting flux by $20\%$, an intermediate phase with reduced Poynting flux and a third phase when the Alfvén wing of planet c goes through planet b's wave structures with another intensification of the Poynting flux.

accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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