Breaking Resonant Chains: Destabilization of Resonant Planets Due to Long-term Mass Evolution

Abstract

Recent exoplanet observations reported a large number of multiple-planet systems, in which some of the planets are in a chain of resonances. The fraction of resonant systems to non-resonant systems provides clues about their formation history. We investigated the orbital stability of planets in resonant chains by considering the long-term evolution of planetary mass and stellar mass and using orbital calculations. We found that while resonant chains were stable, they can be destabilized by a change of ∼10% in planetary mass. Such a mass evolution can occur by atmospheric escape due to photoevaporation. We also found that resonant chains can be broken by a stellar mass loss of ≲1%, which would be explained by stellar winds or coronal mass ejections. The long-term mass change of planets and stars plays an important role in the orbital evolutions of planetary systems, including super-Earths.