Evaporation before disruption: comparing timescales for Jovian planets in star-forming regions

TL;DR

This study compares the timescales of planetary orbit disruption and protoplanetary disc evaporation in dense star-forming regions, revealing that disc evaporation often occurs before Jovian planets are affected, impacting planet formation outcomes.

Contribution

It combines N-body simulations with disc evolution calculations to show that disc evaporation precedes planetary disruption, influencing the formation of gas giants in dense regions.

Findings

44% of disrupted systems see disc evaporation before orbit disruption

Photoevaporation prevents gas giant formation in dense star-forming regions

Distant Jovian planets around tight terrestrial systems challenge formation theories

Abstract

Simulations show that the orbits of planets are readily disrupted in dense star-forming regions; planets can be exchanged between stars, become free-floating and then be captured by other stars. However, dense star-forming regions also tend to be populous, containing massive stars that emit photoionising radiation, which can evaporate the gas in protoplanetary discs. We analyse N-body simulations of star-forming regions containing Jovian-mass planets and determine the times when their orbits are altered, when they become free-floating, and when they are stolen or captured. Simultaneously, we perform calculations of the evolution of protoplanetary discs when exposed to FUV radiation fields from massive stars in the same star-forming regions. In almost half (44 per cent) of the planetary systems that are disrupted - either altered, captured, stolen or become free-floating, we find that the radius of the protoplanetary disc evolves inwards, or the gas in the disc is completely evaporated, before the planets' orbits are disrupted. This implies that planets that are disrupted in dense, populous star-forming regions are more likely to be super Earths or mini Neptunes, as Jovian mass planets would not be able to form due to mass loss from photoevaporation. Furthermore, the recent discoveries of distant Jovian mass planets around tightly-packed terrestrial planets argue against their formation in populous star-forming regions, as photoevaporation would preclude gas giant planet formation at distances of more than a few au.