Long-term double synchronization in close-in gas giant planets

Abstract

Abstract Hot Jupiters, orbiting their host stars at extremely close distances, undergo tidal evolution, with some being engulfed by their stars due to angular momentum exchanges induced by tidal forces. However, achieving double synchronization can prolong their survival. Using the MESA stellar evolution code, combined with the magnetic braking model of Matt et al. (2015), we calculate 25,000 models with different metallicity and study how to attain the conditions that trigger the long-term double synchronization. Our results indicate that massive planets orbiting stars with lower convective turnover time are easier to achieve long-term double synchronization. The rotation angular velocity at the equilibrium point (Ωsta) is almost equal to orbital angular velocity of planet (n) for the majority of the main sequence lifetime if a system has undergone a long-term double synchronization, regardless of their state at this moment. We further compared our results with known parameters of giant planetary systems and found that those systems with larger planetary masses and lower convective turnover time seem to be less sensitive to changes in the tidal quality factor $Q^{\prime }_{_*}$. We suggest that for systems that fall on the state of Ωsta ≈ n, regardless of their current state, the synchronization will persist for a long time if orbital synchronization occurs at any stage of their evolution. Our results can be applied to estimate whether a system has experienced long-term double synchronization in the past or may experience it in the future.