The fate of close-in planets: tidal or magnetic migration?

The fate of close-in planets: tidal or magnetic migration?

Authors: 

Strugarek et al 

Abstract: 

Planets in close-in orbits interact magnetically and tidally with their host stars. These interactions lead to a net torque that makes close-in planets migrate inward or outward depending on their orbital distance. We compare systematically the strength of magnetic and tidal torques for typical observed star-planet systems (T-Tauri & hot Jupiter, M dwarf & Earth-like planet, K star & hot Jupiter) based on state-of-the-art scaling-laws. We find that depending on the characteristics of the system, tidal or magnetic effects can dominate. For very close-in planets, we find that both torques can make a planet migrate on a timescale as small as 10 to 100 thousands of years. Both effects thus have to be taken into account when predicting the evolution of compact systems.