ON THE ORBITAL EVOLUTION OF A GIANT PLANET PAIR EMBEDDED IN A GASEOUS DISK. I. JUPITER-SATURN CONFIGURATION

Abstract

We carry out a series of high-resolution (1024 × 1024) hydrodynamical simulations to investigate the orbital evolution of Jupiter and Saturn embedded in a gaseous protostellar disk. Our work extends the results in the classical papers of Masset & Snellgrove and Morbidelli & Crida by exploring various surface density profiles (σ), where σ ∝ r−α. The stability of the mean motion resonances (MMRs) caused by the convergent migration of the two planets is studied as well. Our results show that (1) the gap formation process of Saturn is greatly delayed by the tidal perturbation of Jupiter. These perturbations cause inward or outward runaway migration of Saturn, depending on the density profiles on the disk. (2) The convergent migration rate increases as α increases and the type of MMRs depends on α as well. When 0 < α < 1, the convergent migration speed of Jupiter and Saturn is relatively slow, thus they are trapped into 2:1 MMR. When α>4/3, Saturn passes through the 2:1 MMR with Jupiter and is captured into the 3:2 MMR. (3) The 3:2 MMR turns out to be unstable when the eccentricity of Saturn (es) increases too high. The critical value above which instability will set in is es ∼ 0.15. We also observe that the two planets are trapped into 2:1 MMR after the break of 3:2 MMR. This process may provide useful information for the formation of orbital configuration between Jupiter and Saturn in the solar system.