Star-Planet Interactions: A Computational View

Fuente: arXiv
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Autore principale: Vidotto, A. A.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Vidotto, A. A.
author_facet Vidotto, A. A.
contents There are several physical processes that mediate the interaction between an exoplanet and its host star, with the four main ones being due to magnetic, particle (stellar outflow), radiative and tidal interactions. These interactions can be observed at different wavelengths, from X-ray to radio. Their strengths depend on the architecture of planetary systems, as well as the age and activity level of the host stars. In particular, exoplanets in close-in orbits and/or orbiting active host stars can experience strong physical interactions, some of which are negligible or absent in the present-day Solar System planets. Here, I present an overview of star-planet interactions through the lens of three-dimensional (3D) numerical models. The main conclusions are: * Models are fundamental to interpret and guide observations. The powerful combination of observations and models allows us to extract important physical parameters of the system, such as, planetary magnetic fields, stellar wind properties, etc. * The non-axisymmetric forces of the interactions generate spatially asymmetric features (e.g., planetary material trailing the orbit, shock formation), thus requiring the use of 3D models. * Star-planet interactions vary in different timescales (from hours to giga-years) that are related to both planetary (orbital motion, rotation) and stellar (flares, cycles, and long-term evolution) properties. Understanding these variations require time-dependent models. I advocate that future 3D models should be informed by multi-wavelength, (near-)simultaneous observations. The use of observations is twofold: some generate inputs for models (eg stellar magnetic field maps), whereas others are fitted by models (eg spectroscopic transits). This combination of observations and models provides a powerful tool to derive physical properties of the system that would otherwise remain unknown.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_00470
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Star-Planet Interactions: A Computational View
Vidotto, A. A.
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Space Physics
There are several physical processes that mediate the interaction between an exoplanet and its host star, with the four main ones being due to magnetic, particle (stellar outflow), radiative and tidal interactions. These interactions can be observed at different wavelengths, from X-ray to radio. Their strengths depend on the architecture of planetary systems, as well as the age and activity level of the host stars. In particular, exoplanets in close-in orbits and/or orbiting active host stars can experience strong physical interactions, some of which are negligible or absent in the present-day Solar System planets. Here, I present an overview of star-planet interactions through the lens of three-dimensional (3D) numerical models. The main conclusions are: * Models are fundamental to interpret and guide observations. The powerful combination of observations and models allows us to extract important physical parameters of the system, such as, planetary magnetic fields, stellar wind properties, etc. * The non-axisymmetric forces of the interactions generate spatially asymmetric features (e.g., planetary material trailing the orbit, shock formation), thus requiring the use of 3D models. * Star-planet interactions vary in different timescales (from hours to giga-years) that are related to both planetary (orbital motion, rotation) and stellar (flares, cycles, and long-term evolution) properties. Understanding these variations require time-dependent models. I advocate that future 3D models should be informed by multi-wavelength, (near-)simultaneous observations. The use of observations is twofold: some generate inputs for models (eg stellar magnetic field maps), whereas others are fitted by models (eg spectroscopic transits). This combination of observations and models provides a powerful tool to derive physical properties of the system that would otherwise remain unknown.
title Star-Planet Interactions: A Computational View
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Space Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.00470