Further constraints on Jupiter's primordial structure

Fuente: arXiv
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Knierim, Henrik, Batygin, Konstantin, Helled, Ravit, Morf, Luca, Adams, Fred C.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866914304330039296
author Knierim, Henrik
Batygin, Konstantin
Helled, Ravit
Morf, Luca
Adams, Fred C.
author_facet Knierim, Henrik
Batygin, Konstantin
Helled, Ravit
Morf, Luca
Adams, Fred C.
contents The primordial structure of Jupiter remains uncertain, yet it holds vital clues on the planet's formation and early evolution. Recent work used dynamical constraints from Jupiter's inner moons to determine its primordial state, thereby providing a novel, formation-era anchor point for interior modeling. Building on this approach, we combine these dynamical constraints with thermal evolution simulations to investigate which primordial structures are consistent with present-day Jupiter. We present 4,250 evolutionary models of the planetary structure, including compositional mixing and helium phase separation, spanning a broad range of initial entropies and composition profiles. We find that Jupiter's present-day structure is best explained by a warm ($4.98_{-2.57}^{+3.00}\, \mathrm{k_B\, m_u^{-1}}$), metal-rich dilute core inherited from formation. To simultaneously satisfy constraints on Jupiter's primordial spin, however, its envelope must have been significantly warmer ($9.32_{-0.58}^{+0.48}\, \mathrm{k_B\, m_u^{-1}}$) at the time of disk dispersal. We determine Jupiter's primordial radius to be $1.89_{-0.49}^{+0.40}\, \mathrm{R_J}$. These results provide new constraints on Jupiter's formation, suggesting that most heavy elements were accreted early during runaway gas accretion, and placing bounds on the energy dissipated during the accretion shock.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_03961
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Further constraints on Jupiter's primordial structure
Knierim, Henrik
Batygin, Konstantin
Helled, Ravit
Morf, Luca
Adams, Fred C.
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
The primordial structure of Jupiter remains uncertain, yet it holds vital clues on the planet's formation and early evolution. Recent work used dynamical constraints from Jupiter's inner moons to determine its primordial state, thereby providing a novel, formation-era anchor point for interior modeling. Building on this approach, we combine these dynamical constraints with thermal evolution simulations to investigate which primordial structures are consistent with present-day Jupiter. We present 4,250 evolutionary models of the planetary structure, including compositional mixing and helium phase separation, spanning a broad range of initial entropies and composition profiles. We find that Jupiter's present-day structure is best explained by a warm ($4.98_{-2.57}^{+3.00}\, \mathrm{k_B\, m_u^{-1}}$), metal-rich dilute core inherited from formation. To simultaneously satisfy constraints on Jupiter's primordial spin, however, its envelope must have been significantly warmer ($9.32_{-0.58}^{+0.48}\, \mathrm{k_B\, m_u^{-1}}$) at the time of disk dispersal. We determine Jupiter's primordial radius to be $1.89_{-0.49}^{+0.40}\, \mathrm{R_J}$. These results provide new constraints on Jupiter's formation, suggesting that most heavy elements were accreted early during runaway gas accretion, and placing bounds on the energy dissipated during the accretion shock.
title Further constraints on Jupiter's primordial structure
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.03961