Dynamics of the giant planets of the solar system in the gaseous proto-planetary disk and relationship to the current orbital architecture

TL;DR

This study explores how the giant planets of our solar system evolved within a gaseous disk, identifying stable resonant configurations and their long-term stability, and how interactions with planetesimals could lead to current orbital arrangements.

Contribution

It extends previous models by analyzing multiple resonant configurations and their stability, incorporating the effects of planetesimal disks on orbital evolution.

Findings

Six stable quadruple mean motion resonances identified.

Only the least compact resonant configurations remain stable over hundreds of millions of years.

Adding a planetesimal disk can evolve the planets to their current orbits.

Abstract

We study the orbital evolution of the 4 giant planets of our solar system in a gas disk. Our investigation extends the previous works by Masset and Snellgrove (2001) and Morbidelli and Crida (2007, MC07), which focussed on the dynamics of the Jupiter-Saturn system. The only systems that we found to reach a steady state are those in which the planets are locked in a quadruple mean motion resonance (i.e. each planet is in resonance with its neighbor). In total we found 6 such configurations. For the gas disk parameters found in MC07, these configurations are characterized by a negligible migration rate. After the disappearance of the gas, and in absence of planetesimals, only two of these six configurations (the least compact ones) are stable for a time of hundreds of millions of years or more. The others become unstable on a timescale of a few My. Our preliminary simulations show that, when a planetesimal disk is added beyond the orbit of the outermost planet, the planets can evolve from the most stable of these configurations to their current orbits in a fashion qualitatively similar to that described in Tsiganis et al. (2005).