Vulcan Planets: Inside-Out Formation of the Innermost Super-Earths

TL;DR

This paper investigates the inside-out formation of innermost super-Earths, called Vulcan planets, using a model that predicts their masses and distributions, and compares these predictions with observed Kepler data.

Contribution

It introduces a model for in situ planet formation at the dead-zone inner boundary and tests its predictions against observed planet properties, supporting the inside-out formation scenario.

Findings

Predicted innermost planet mass scales with orbital radius as M_p ≈ 5.0(r/0.1 AU) M_⊕

Monte Carlo simulations show the mass-radius relation is consistent with observed Vulcan planets

The results suggest low viscosities in the inner dead zone are favored by the data

Abstract

The compact multi-transiting systems discovered by Kepler challenge traditional planet formation theories. These fall into two broad classes: (1) formation further out followed by migration; (2) formation in situ from a disk of gas and planetesimals. In the former, an abundance of resonant chains is expected, which the Kepler data do not support. In the latter, required disk mass surface densities may be too high. A recently proposed mechanism hypothesizes that planets form in situ at the pressure trap associated with the dead-zone inner boundary (DZIB) where radially drifting "pebbles" accumulate. This scenario predicts planet masses ($M_p$) are set by the gap-opening process that then leads to DZIB retreat, followed by sequential, inside-out planet formation (IOPF). For typical disk accretion rates, IOPF predictions for $M_p$, $M_p$ versus orbital radius $r$, and planet-planet separations are consistent with observed systems. Here we investigate the IOPF prediction for how the masses, $M_{p,1}$, of the innermost ("Vulcan") planets vary with $r$. We show that for fiducial parameters, $M_{p,1}\simeq5.0(r/{\rm{0.1\:AU}})\:M_\oplus$, independent of the disk's accretion rate at time of planet formation. Then, using Monte Carlo sampling of a population of these innermost planets, we test this predicted scaling against observed planet properties, allowing for intrinsic dispersions in planetary densities and Kepler's observational biases. These effects lead to a slightly shallower relation $M_{p,1}\propto{r}^{0.9\pm0.2}$, which is consistent with $M_{p,1}\propto{r}^{0.7\pm0.2}$ of the observed Vulcans. The normalization of the relation constrains the gap-opening process, favoring relatively low viscosities in the inner dead zone.