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Title: CHAOTIC DISINTEGRATION OF THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM

Abstract

On timescales that greatly exceed an orbital period, typical planetary orbits evolve in a stochastic yet stable fashion. On even longer timescales, however, planetary orbits can spontaneously transition from bounded to unbound chaotic states. Large-scale instabilities associated with such behavior appear to play a dominant role in shaping the architectures of planetary systems, including our own. Here we show how such transitions are possible, focusing on the specific case of the long-term evolution of Mercury. We develop a simple analytical model for Mercury's dynamics and elucidate the origins of its short-term stochastic behavior as well as of its sudden progression to unbounded chaos. Our model allows us to estimate the timescale on which this transition is likely to be triggered, i.e., the dynamical lifetime of the solar system as we know it. The formulated theory is consistent with the results of numerical simulations and is broadly applicable to extrasolar planetary systems dominated by secular interactions. These results constitute a significant advancement in our understanding of the processes responsible for sculpting of the dynamical structures of generic planetary systems.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
  2. Department Lagrange, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, F-06304 Nice (France)
  3. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22364408
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 799; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; CHAOS THEORY; COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; LIFETIME; MERCURY PLANET; ORBITS; ORIGIN; PLANETS; SATELLITES; SOLAR SYSTEM; SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION; STABILITY; STOCHASTIC PROCESSES

Citation Formats

Batygin, Konstantin, Morbidelli, Alessandro, and Holman, Mathew J. CHAOTIC DISINTEGRATION OF THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/799/2/120.
Batygin, Konstantin, Morbidelli, Alessandro, & Holman, Mathew J. CHAOTIC DISINTEGRATION OF THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/799/2/120
Batygin, Konstantin, Morbidelli, Alessandro, and Holman, Mathew J. 2015. "CHAOTIC DISINTEGRATION OF THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/799/2/120.
@article{osti_22364408,
title = {CHAOTIC DISINTEGRATION OF THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM},
author = {Batygin, Konstantin and Morbidelli, Alessandro and Holman, Mathew J.},
abstractNote = {On timescales that greatly exceed an orbital period, typical planetary orbits evolve in a stochastic yet stable fashion. On even longer timescales, however, planetary orbits can spontaneously transition from bounded to unbound chaotic states. Large-scale instabilities associated with such behavior appear to play a dominant role in shaping the architectures of planetary systems, including our own. Here we show how such transitions are possible, focusing on the specific case of the long-term evolution of Mercury. We develop a simple analytical model for Mercury's dynamics and elucidate the origins of its short-term stochastic behavior as well as of its sudden progression to unbounded chaos. Our model allows us to estimate the timescale on which this transition is likely to be triggered, i.e., the dynamical lifetime of the solar system as we know it. The formulated theory is consistent with the results of numerical simulations and is broadly applicable to extrasolar planetary systems dominated by secular interactions. These results constitute a significant advancement in our understanding of the processes responsible for sculpting of the dynamical structures of generic planetary systems.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/799/2/120},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22364408}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 2,
volume = 799,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}