Abstract
Context. The surface angular velocity evolution of low-mass stars is now globally understood and the main physical mechanisms involved in it are observationally quite constrained. However, while the general behaviour of these mechanisms is grasped, their theoretical description is still under ongoing work. This is the case, for instance, about the description of the physical process that extracts angular momentum from the radiative core, which could be described by several theoretical candidates. Additionally, recent observations showed anomalies in the rotation period distribution of open cluster, main sequence, early K-type stars that cannot be reproduced by current angular momentum evolution models. Aims. In this work, we study the parameter space of star-planet system’s configurations to investigate if including the tidal star-planet interaction in angular momentum evolution models could reproduce the anomalies of this rotation period distribution. Methods. To study this effect, we use a parametric angular momentum evolution model that allows for core-envelope decoupling and angular momentum extraction by magnetized stellar wind that we coupled to an orbital evolution code where we take into account the torque due to the tides raised on the star by the planet. We explore different stellar and planetary configurations (stellar mass from 0.5 to 1.0 M⊙ and planetary mass from 10 M⊕ to 13 Mjup) to study their effect on the planetary orbital and stellar rotational evolution. Results. The stellar angular momentum is the most impacted by the star-planet interaction when the planet is engulfed during the early main sequence phase. Thus, if a close-in Jupiter-mass planet is initially located at around 50% of the stellar corotation radius, a kink in the rotational period distribution opens around late and early K-type stars during the early main sequence phase. Conclusions. Tidal star-planet interactions can create a kink in the rotation period distribution of low-mass stars, which could possibly account for unexpected scatter seen in the rotational period distribution of young stellar clusters.
Highlights
The angular momentum evolution of young low-mass stars has been investigated for several decades (e.g. Weber & Davis 1967; Skumanich 1972; Kawaler 1988; Keppens et al 1995; Bouvier 2008; Reiners & Mohanty 2012)
Despite the uncertainties about the correct physical description to use to describe the mechanisms involved in the internal transport of angular momentum between the radiative core and the convective envelope, current models grasp the main trends of stellar rotational evolution
We explore the parameter space of star-planet systems, considering stellar mass, initial parameters, planetary mass, and initial orbital distance to map the impact of star-planet interaction on the rotational evolution of low-mass stars
Summary
The angular momentum evolution of young low-mass stars has been investigated for several decades (e.g. Weber & Davis 1967; Skumanich 1972; Kawaler 1988; Keppens et al 1995; Bouvier 2008; Reiners & Mohanty 2012). The dissipation of the dynamical tide inside the star is treated in the convective envelope as in Gallet et al (2017a), who followed Ogilvie (2013) and Mathis (2015b) and the stellar structure is from the stellar evolution code STAREVOL (see Amard et al 2016, and references therein). We developed this code that combines these two numerical approaches so as to study, in a more realistic way through the addition of the decoupling between the radiative core and the convective envelope, the impact of the star-planet interaction on the surface rotation rate of low-mass stars. In the case of a planetary engulfment, we assume that the whole angular momentum of the planet is instantaneously transferred to the star which end up in the rapid increase of the stellar surface angular velocity
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