Primordial planet spin driven by boundary layer effects in a decretion disc

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Martin, Rebecca G., Lubow, Stephen H., Vallet, David, Overton, Madeline, Lepp, Stephen, Zhu, Zhaohuan, Huang, Shunquan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Martin, Rebecca G.
Lubow, Stephen H.
Vallet, David
Overton, Madeline
Lepp, Stephen
Zhu, Zhaohuan
Huang, Shunquan
author_facet Martin, Rebecca G.
Lubow, Stephen H.
Vallet, David
Overton, Madeline
Lepp, Stephen
Zhu, Zhaohuan
Huang, Shunquan
contents Accretion of material from a protoplanetary disc on to a forming giant planet can spin the planet up to close to its breakup rate, $Ω_{\rm b}=(G M_{\rm p}/R_{\rm p}^3)$, where $M_{\rm p}$ is the mass and $R_{\rm p}$ is the radius of the planet. After the protoplanetary disc dissipates, the rapidly rotating planet may eject a decretion (outflowing) disc in a similar way to a Be star. Boundary layer effects in a hydrodynamic disc allow for decretion disc formation at spin rates below the breakup spin rate of the planet. The decretion disc exerts a torque on the planet that slows its spin to an equilibrium value that is sensitive to the planet temperature. By considering steady state circumplanetary decretion disc solutions, we show that the equilibrium spin rate for planets is around $0.4\,Ω_{\rm b}$ for $H/R=0.2$ and around $0.2\,Ω_{\rm b}$ for $H/R=0.3$, where $H$ is the disc scale height at radius $R$. These values are in line with the spins of the giant planets in the solar system and observed exoplanet spins.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_09273
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Primordial planet spin driven by boundary layer effects in a decretion disc
Martin, Rebecca G.
Lubow, Stephen H.
Vallet, David
Overton, Madeline
Lepp, Stephen
Zhu, Zhaohuan
Huang, Shunquan
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Accretion of material from a protoplanetary disc on to a forming giant planet can spin the planet up to close to its breakup rate, $Ω_{\rm b}=(G M_{\rm p}/R_{\rm p}^3)$, where $M_{\rm p}$ is the mass and $R_{\rm p}$ is the radius of the planet. After the protoplanetary disc dissipates, the rapidly rotating planet may eject a decretion (outflowing) disc in a similar way to a Be star. Boundary layer effects in a hydrodynamic disc allow for decretion disc formation at spin rates below the breakup spin rate of the planet. The decretion disc exerts a torque on the planet that slows its spin to an equilibrium value that is sensitive to the planet temperature. By considering steady state circumplanetary decretion disc solutions, we show that the equilibrium spin rate for planets is around $0.4\,Ω_{\rm b}$ for $H/R=0.2$ and around $0.2\,Ω_{\rm b}$ for $H/R=0.3$, where $H$ is the disc scale height at radius $R$. These values are in line with the spins of the giant planets in the solar system and observed exoplanet spins.
title Primordial planet spin driven by boundary layer effects in a decretion disc
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.09273