Heat transport in giant (exo)planets: a new perspective

Abstract

We explore the possibility that large-scale convection be inhibited over some regions of giant planet interiors, as a consequence of a gradient of composition inherited either from their formation history or from particular events like giant impacts or core erosion during their evolution. Under appropriate circumstances, the redistribution of the gradient of molecular weight can lead to double diffusive layered or overstable convection. This leads to much less efficient heat transport and compositional mixing than large-scale adiabatic convection. We show that this process can explain the abnormally large radius of the transit planet HD209458b and similar objects, and may be at play in some giant planets, with short-period planets offering the most favorable conditions. Observational signatures of this transport mechanism are a large radius and a reduced heat flux output compared with uniformly mixed objects. If our suggestion is correct, it bears major consequences on our understanding of giant planet formation, structure and evolution, including possibly our own jovian planets.

To appear in ApJ Letters

References in corpus (1)

• Tidal dissipation within hot Jupiters: a new appraisal

Cited by in corpus (57)

• Accurate, Empirical Radii and Masses of Planets and their Host Stars with Gaia Parallaxes
• Comparing Jupiter interior structure models to Juno gravity measurements and the role of a dilute core
• The Transit Light Curve Project. IX. Evidence for a Smaller Radius of the Exoplanet XO-3b
• The Mass of KOI-94d and a Relation for Planet Radius, Mass, and Incident Flux
• Ab initio Equation of State data for hydrogen, helium, and water and the internal structure of Jupiter
• New models of Jupiter in the context of Juno and Galileo
• Atmospheric Dynamics of Hot Exoplanets
• Global Models of Planet Formation and Evolution
• WASP-42 b and WASP-49 b: two new transiting sub-Jupiters
• Inflating and Deflating Hot Jupiters: Coupled Tidal and Thermal Evolution of Known Transiting Planets
• Layered convection as the origin of Saturn's luminosity anomaly
• Condensation-inhibited convection in hydrogen-rich atmospheres: Stability against double-diffusive processes and thermal profiles for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
• Rayleigh scattering by H2 in the extrasolar planet HD209458b
• Hot Jupiters: Origins, Structure, Atmospheres
• TrES-4: A Transiting Hot Jupiter of Very Low Density
• The Transit Light Curve Project. VII. The Not-So-Bloated Exoplanet HAT-P-1b
• The Transit Light Curve Project. XI. Submillimagnitude Photometry of Two Transits of the Bloated Planet WASP-4b
• A warm Neptune's methane reveals core mass and vigorous atmospheric mixing
• The Challenge of Forming a Fuzzy Core in Jupiter
• Heavy metal rules. I. Exoplanet incidence and metallicity
• Seeing double with K2: Testing re-inflation with two remarkably similar planets around red giant branch stars
• Coupled Evolution with Tides of the Radius and Orbit of Transiting Giant Planets: General Results
• Understanding Jupiter's Interior
• An Exploration of Double Diffusive Convection in Jupiter as a Result of Hydrogen-Helium Phase Separation
• Idealised simulations of the deep atmosphere of hot jupiters: Deep, hot, adiabats as a robust solution to the radius inflation problem
• Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission V. CoRoT-Exo-4b: Stellar and planetary parameters
• Convection and Mixing in Giant Planet Evolution
• High-temperature miscibility of iron and rock during terrestrial planet formation
• Hot-Jupiter Inflation due to Deep Energy Deposition
• The composition of transiting giant extrasolar planets
• Slow Cooling and Fast Reinflation for Hot Jupiters
• OGLE-TR-211 - a new transiting inflated hot Jupiter from the OGLE survey and ESO LP666 spectroscopic follow-up program
• A warm Jupiter transiting an M dwarf: A TESS single transit event confirmed with the Habitable-zone Planet Finder
• Computing the heat conductivity of fluids from density fluctuations
• Ohmic Dissipation in Mini-Neptunes
• Layer formation in a stably-stratified fluid cooled from above. Towards an analog for Jupiter and other gas giants
• Rotation reduces convective mixing in Jupiter and other gas giants
• On constraining a transiting exoplanet's rotation rate with its transit spectrum
• Ariel Planetary Interiors White Paper
• Oblique rings from migrating exomoons: A possible origin for long-period exoplanets with enlarged radii
• Superadiabaticity in Jupiter and giant planet interiors
• Layered semi-convection and tides in giant planet interiors - II. Tidal dissipation
• In-situ enrichment in heavy elements of hot Jupiters
• Planet formation in the PDS 70 system: Constraining the atmospheric chemistry of PDS 70b and c
• Host Star Dependence of Small Planet Mass-Radius Distributions
• Evidence of Radius Inflation in Radiative GCM Models of WASP-76b due to the Advection of Potential Temperature
• IGRINS observations of WASP-127 b: H${}_2$O, CO, and super-Solar atmospheric metallicity in the inflated sub-Saturn
• Magnetic winding and turbulence in ultra-hot Jupiters
• 3D Simulations of Semiconvection in Spheres: Turbulent Mixing and Layer Formation
• The discovery of three hot Jupiters, NGTS-23b, 24b and 25b, and updated parameters for HATS-54b from the Next Generation Transit Survey
• Hotter Than Expected: HST/WFC3 Phase-resolved Spectroscopy of a Rare Irradiated Brown Dwarf with Strong Internal Heat Flux
• Tidal dissipation in stratified and semi-convective regions of giant planets
• The Evolution of Jupiter and Saturn as a function of the Parameter R${}_{\rho }$
• Inflated hot Jupiters: Inferring average atmospheric velocity via Ohmic models coupled with internal dynamo evolution
• BD-14 3065b (TOI-4987b): from giant planet to brown dwarf: evidence for deuterium burning in old age?
• Interpreting the atmospheric composition of exoplanets: sensitivity to planet formation assumptions
• The effects of rotation on a double-diffusive layer in a rotating spherical shell