# The Chaotic Nature of TRAPPIST-1 Planetary Spin States

## TL;DR

This study reveals that the complex gravitational interactions in the TRAPPIST-1 system can lead to diverse, non-synchronous spin states for its planets, challenging the assumption of tidal locking and affecting their potential habitability.

## Contribution

The paper demonstrates through numerical simulations that mutual planetary interactions can induce non-synchronous, librating spin states in TRAPPIST-1 planets, which are typically presumed to be tidally locked.

## Key findings

- Planets d, e, and f can exhibit non-synchronous spin states.
- Spin states can undergo libration or circulation due to interactions.
- Long-term stability of these spin states is generally unlikely.

## Abstract

The TRAPPIST-1 system has 7 known terrestrial planets arranged compactly in a mean motion resonant chain around an ultra-cool central star, some within the estimated habitable zone. Given their short orbital periods of just a few days, it is often presumed that the planets are tidally locked such that the spin rate is equal to that of the orbital mean motion. However, the compact, and resonant, nature of the system implies that there can be significant variations in the mean motion of these planets due to their mutual interactions. We show that such fluctuations can then have significant effects on the spin states of these planets. In this paper, we analyze, using detailed numerical simulations, the mean motion histories of the three planets that are thought to lie within or close to the habitable zone of the system: planets d, e, and f. We demonstrate that, depending on the strength of the mutual interactions within the system, these planets can be pushed into spin states which are effectively non-synchronous. We find that it can produce significant libration of the spin state, if not complete circulation in the frame co-rotating with the orbit. We also show that these spin states are likely to be unable to sustain long-term stability, with many of our simulations suggesting that the spin evolves, under the influence of tidal synchronization forces, into quasi-stable attractor states, which last on timescales of thousands of years.