An Empirically Derived Three-Dimensional Laplace Resonance in the Gliese 876 Planetary System

TL;DR

This paper uses radial velocity data and Bayesian methods to determine the three-dimensional orbital architecture of the Gliese 876 planetary system, revealing a nearly coplanar, resonant, four-planet configuration with evidence of past disk migration.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive 3D orbital model of GJ 876 based on long-term data and stability analysis, confirming a four-planet resonant system with low mutual inclinations.

Findings

Four-planet model is preferred over three-planet model.

Planets are roughly coplanar with mutual inclinations less than 8 degrees.

Resonant arguments librate, indicating past disk migration.

Abstract

We report constraints on the three-dimensional orbital architecture for all four planets known to orbit the nearby M dwarf Gliese 876 based solely on Doppler measurements and demanding long-term orbital stability. Our dataset incorporates publicly available radial velocities taken with the ELODIE and CORALIE spectrographs, HARPS, and Keck HIRES as well as previously unpublished HIRES velocities. We first quantitatively assess the validity of the planets thought to orbit GJ 876 by computing the Bayes factors for a variety of different coplanar models using an importance sampling algorithm. We find that a four-planet model is preferred over a three-planet model. Next, we apply a Newtonian MCMC algorithm to perform a Bayesian analysis of the planet masses and orbits using an n-body model in three-dimensional space. Based on the radial velocities alone, we find that a 99% credible interval provides upper limits on the mutual inclinations for the three resonant planets ($\Phi_{cb}<6.20^\circ$ for the "c" and "b" pair and $\Phi_{be}<28.5^\circ$ for the "b" and "e" pair). Subsequent dynamical integrations of our posterior sample find that the GJ 876 planets must be roughly coplanar ($\Phi_{cb}<2.60^\circ$ and $\Phi_{be}<7.87^\circ$), suggesting the amount of planet-planet scattering in the system has been low. We investigate the distribution of the respective resonant arguments of each planet pair and find that at least one argument for each planet pair and the Laplace argument librate. The libration amplitudes in our three-dimensional orbital model supports the idea of the outer-three planets having undergone significant past disk migration.