Analytical treatment of planetary resonances

Abstract

An ever-growing observational aggregate of extrasolar planets has revealed that systems of planets that reside in or near mean-motion resonances are relatively common. While the origin of such systems is attributed to protoplanetary disk-driven migration, a qualitative description of the dynamical evolution of resonant planets remains largely elusive. Aided by the pioneering works of the last century, we formulate an approximate, integrable theory for first-order resonant motion. We utilize the developed theory to construct an intuitive, geometrical representation of resonances within the context of the unrestricted three-body problem. Moreover, we derive a simple analytical criterion for the appearance of secondary resonances between resonant and secular motion. Subsequently, we demonstrate the onset of rapid chaotic motion as a result of overlap among neighboring first-order mean-motion resonances, as well as the appearance of slow chaos as a result of secular modulation of the planetary orbits. Finally, we take advantage of the integrable theory to analytically show that, in the adiabatic regime, divergent encounters with first-order mean-motion resonances always lead to persistent apsidal anti-alignment. © ESO, 2013.