Magnetically induced termination of giant planet formation

TL;DR

This paper presents a physical model where planetary magnetic fields naturally halt giant planet growth by limiting gas accretion, explaining the formation of Jupiter-mass planets without artificial truncation.

Contribution

The model introduces a magnetic field-based mechanism for terminating giant planet formation, providing a natural explanation for observed planetary masses.

Findings

Magnetic fields create an effective cross section that limits gas accretion.

The cross section scales inversely with planetary mass, leading to stalled growth.

Hot-start planets tend to be more massive than cold-start planets.

Abstract

Here a physical model for terminating giant planet formation is outlined and compared to other methods of late-stage giant planet formation. As has been pointed out before, gas accreting into a gap and onto the planet will encounter the planetary dynamo-generated magnetic field. The planetary magnetic field produces an effective cross section through which gas is accreted. Gas outside this cross section is recycled into the protoplanetary disk, hence only a fraction of mass that is accreted into the gap remains bound to the planet. This cross section inversely scales with the planetary mass, which naturally leads to stalled planetary growth late in the formation process. We show that this method naturally leads to Jupiter-mass planets and does not invoke any artificial truncation of gas accretion, as has been done in some previous population synthesis models. The mass accretion rate depends on the radius of the growing planet after the gap has opened, and we show that so-called hot-start planets tend to become more massive than cold-start planets. When this result is combined with population synthesis models, it might show observable signatures of cold-start versus hot-start planets in the exoplanet population.