Limited hysteresis in the atmospheric dynamics of hot Jupiters
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866910846460887040 |
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| author | Komacek, Thaddeus D. |
| author_facet | Komacek, Thaddeus D. |
| contents | Over the past two decades, a coherent picture has emerged of the atmospheric dynamics of hot Jupiters from a combination of three-dimensional general circulation models (GCMs) and astronomical observations. This paradigm consists of hot Jupiters being spin-synchronized due to their close-in orbit, with a resulting large day-to-night irradiation gradient driving a day-to-night temperature contrast. This day-to-night temperature contrast in turn raises day-to-night pressure gradients that are balanced by a circulation with wind speeds on the order of km~s$^{-1}$. The dominant feature of this circulation is a superrotating equatorial jet, maintained by eddy-mean flow interactions that pump momentum into the jet. In this work, I explore the dependence of this circulation paradigm on the initial thermal and dynamical conditions in atmospheric circulation models of hot Jupiters. To do so, I conduct MITgcm simulations of the atmospheric circulation of hot Jupiters with both varying initial wind directions and initial temperature profiles. I find that the results are insensitive to the initial conditions, implying that the current paradigm of hot Jupiter circulation exhibits at most limited hysteresis. I demonstrate that there is a single characteristic wind speed of hot Jupiters for given planetary and atmospheric parameters using an idealized scaling theory, and discuss implications for the interpretation of hot Jupiter observations. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_19394 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Limited hysteresis in the atmospheric dynamics of hot Jupiters Komacek, Thaddeus D. Earth and Planetary Astrophysics Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics Over the past two decades, a coherent picture has emerged of the atmospheric dynamics of hot Jupiters from a combination of three-dimensional general circulation models (GCMs) and astronomical observations. This paradigm consists of hot Jupiters being spin-synchronized due to their close-in orbit, with a resulting large day-to-night irradiation gradient driving a day-to-night temperature contrast. This day-to-night temperature contrast in turn raises day-to-night pressure gradients that are balanced by a circulation with wind speeds on the order of km~s$^{-1}$. The dominant feature of this circulation is a superrotating equatorial jet, maintained by eddy-mean flow interactions that pump momentum into the jet. In this work, I explore the dependence of this circulation paradigm on the initial thermal and dynamical conditions in atmospheric circulation models of hot Jupiters. To do so, I conduct MITgcm simulations of the atmospheric circulation of hot Jupiters with both varying initial wind directions and initial temperature profiles. I find that the results are insensitive to the initial conditions, implying that the current paradigm of hot Jupiter circulation exhibits at most limited hysteresis. I demonstrate that there is a single characteristic wind speed of hot Jupiters for given planetary and atmospheric parameters using an idealized scaling theory, and discuss implications for the interpretation of hot Jupiter observations. |
| title | Limited hysteresis in the atmospheric dynamics of hot Jupiters |
| topic | Earth and Planetary Astrophysics Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.19394 |