Understand
We study the possibility that hot Jupiters are formed through the secular gravitational interactions between two planets in eccentric orbits with relatively low mutual inclinations ($\lesssim20^\circ$) and friction due to tides raised on the planet by the host star.
- We term this migration mechanism Coplanar High-eccentricity Migration because, like disk migration, it allows for migration to occur on the same plane in which the planets formed.
- Coplanar High-eccentricity Migration can operate from the following typical initial configurations: (i) inner planet in a circular orbit and the outer planet with an eccentricity $\gtrsim0.67$ for $m_{\rm in}/m_{\rm out}(a_{\rm in}/a_{\rm out})^{1/2}\lesssim0.3$; (ii) two eccentric ($\gtrsim0.5$) orbits for $m_{\rm in}/m_{\rm out}(a_{\rm in}/a_{\rm out})^{1/2}\lesssim0.16$.
- A population synthesis study of hierarchical systems of two giant planets using the observed eccentricity distribution of giant planets shows that Coplanar High-eccentricity Migration produces hot Jupiters with low stellar obliquities ($\lesssim30^\circ$), with a semi-major axis distribution that matches the observations, and at a rate that can account for their observed occurrence.