Tidal dissipation in rotating low-mass stars and implications for the orbital evolution of close-in planets

Abstract

Star-planet interactions must be taken into account in stellar models to understand the dynamical evolution of close-in planets. The dependence of the tidal interactions on the structural and rotational evolution of the star is of peculiar importance and should be correctly treated. We quantify how tidal dissipation in the convective envelope of rotating low-mass stars evolves from the pre-main sequence up to the red-giant branch depending on the initial stellar mass. We investigate the consequences of this evolution on planetary orbital evolution. We couple the tidal dissipation formalism described in Mathis (2015) to the stellar evolution code STAREVOL and apply it to rotating stars with masses between 0.3 and 1.4 M$_\odot$. In addition, we generalize the work of Bolmont & Mathis (2016) by following the orbital evolution of close-in planets using the new tidal dissipation predictions for advanced phases of stellar evolution. On the PMS the evolution of tidal dissipation is controlled by the evolution of the internal structure of the contracting star. On the MS it is strongly driven by the variation of surface rotation that is impacted by magnetized stellar winds braking. The main effect of taking into account the rotational evolution of the stars is to lower the tidal dissipation strength by about four orders of magnitude on the main-sequence, compared to a normalized dissipation rate that only takes into account structural changes. The evolution of the dissipation strongly depends on the evolution of the internal structure and rotation of the star. From the pre-main sequence up to the tip of the red-giant branch, it varies by several orders of magnitude, with strong consequences for the orbital evolution of close-in massive planets. These effects are the strongest during the pre-main sequence, implying that the planets are mainly sensitive to the star's early history.