The Core Accretion Model Predicts Few Jovian-Mass Planets Orbiting Red Dwarfs

By Gregory Laughlin, P. Bodenheimer, Fred C. Adams. 2004

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The favored theoretical explanation for giant planet formation—in both our solar system and others—is the core accretion model (although it still has some serious difficulties). In this scenario, planetesimals accumulate to build up planetary cores, which then accrete nebular gas. With current opacity estimates for protoplanetary envelopes, this model predicts the formation of Jupiter-mass planets in 2-3 Myr at 5 AU around solar-mass stars, provided that the surface density of solids is enhanced over that of the minimum-mass solar nebula (by a factor of a few). Working within the core accretion paradigm, this Letter presents theoretical calculations that show that the formation of Jupiter-mass planets orbiting M dwarf stars is seriously inhibited at all radial locations (in sharp contrast to solar-type stars). Planet detection programs sensitive to companions of M dwarfs will test this prediction in the near future.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/91aa2ae020c94f4eba59df37ed37cc6764422544

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THE FORMATION MECHANISM OF GAS GIANTS ON WIDE ORBITS (2009, positive): “Simple core accretion-based models reproduce the planet-metallicity correlation (Fischer & Valenti 2005) and the planet-silicon correlation (Robinson et al. 2006), and the rarity of giant planets orbiting M dwarfs (Laughlin et al. 2004; Johnson et al. 2007).”
THE MASS DEPENDENCE BETWEEN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS AND THEIR STELLAR HOSTS (2013, background): “…and stellar host mass (M∗) noted by Johnson et al. (2007), which was predicted theoretically in planet formation models that implicitly assumed there is a fundamental scaling relationship between Md and M∗ (e.g., Laughlin et al. 2004; Ida & Lin 2005; Kornet et al. 2006; Alibert et al. 2011).”
ON THE METAL RICHNESS OF M DWARFS WITH PLANETS (2009, background): “Similarly, the disks around massive stars also have enhanced surface densities, as well as expansive radial regions in which protoplanetary cores grow most efficiently (Laughlin et al. 2004; Ida & Lin 2005; Kennedy & Kenyon 2008).”
CHARACTERIZING THE COOL KOIs. II. THE M DWARF KOI-254 AND ITS HOT JUPITER (2011, background): “This lack of hot Jupiters around M dwarfs, as well as the overall dearth of giant planets around low-mass stars, is likely due to the inefficiency of the planet-formation process within low-mass protoplanetary disks (Laughlin et al. 2004; Ida & Lin 2005; Kennedy & Kenyon 2008).”
Planet Formation around Stars of Various Masses: The Snow Line and the Frequency of Giant Planets (2007, background): “Several theoretical studies (e.g. Laughlin et al. 2004; Ida & Lin 2005, this paper) suggest that failed cores are more common around low mass stars.”
Metallicity of M dwarfs - I. A photometric calibration and the impact on the mass-luminosity relation at the bottom of the main sequence (2005, background): “Assuming that protostellar disk mass scales with stellar mass and within the core-accretion scenario, Laughlin et al. (2004) and Ida & Lin (2005) show that formation of Jupiter-mass planets is seriously inhibited around the less massive M dwarfs (M < 0.4 M ).”
The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets. X. A m sin i = 11 M_â planet around the nearby spotted M dwarf GJ 674 (2007, background): “Within the “core accretion” paradigm, Laughlin et al. (2004) and Ida & Lin (2005) predict that giant planet formation is inhibited around very low-mass stars, while Neptune-mass planets should inversely be common.”
Microlens OGLE-2005-BLG-169 Implies That Cool Neptune-like Planets Are Common (2006, neutral): “In particular, we exclude Jupiter-mass (q = 2×10−3) planets at projected separations within a factor 5.5 of the Einstein radius (0.18 b 5.5) and Saturn-mass planets within a factor 3.5.”
The Keck Planet Search: Detectability and the Minimum Mass and Orbital Period Distribution of Extrasolar Planets (2008, background): “…formation, which find that Jupiter mass planets should be rare around M dwarfs, with the mass function of planets shifted towards lower masses (Laughlin et al. 2004; Ida & Lin 2005; Kennedy & Kenyon 2008) (although Kornet & Wolf 2006 predict a greater incidence of gas giants at lower stellar…”
NEAR-INFRARED METALLICITIES, RADIAL VELOCITIES, AND SPECTRAL TYPES FOR 447 NEARBY M DWARFS (2013, background): “…and gravitational instability models predict different rates of occurrence of planets around low-mass stars, with the formation of giant planets through core accretion being hampered by the low disk surface density and long orbital time scale in M dwarf protoplanetary disks (Laughlin et al. 2004).”
SWEET-Cat: A catalogue of parameters for Stars With ExoplanETs - I. New atmospheric parameters and masses for 48 stars with planets (2013, methodology): “This result is expected from the models of planetary formation following the core-accretion paradigm (Laughlin et al. 2004; Ida & Lin 2005; Kennedy & Kenyon 2008) – see however Kornet et al. (2005); Boss (2006).”
THE NIRSPEC ULTRACOOL DWARF RADIAL VELOCITY SURVEY (2010, background): “A significant population of giant planets orbiting close to M and L dwarfs is not predicted by models of planet formation via core accretion (i.e., Laughlin et al. 2004; Ida & Lin 2005), though such planets may be formed in the disk instability scenario (Boss 2006).”
Extrasolar planet population synthesis - II. Statistical comparison with observations (2009, background): “However, for stars with significantly different masses (M dwarfs, namely), theoretical studies (Laughlin et al. 2004; Ida & Lin 2005) in- dicate planetary populations with significantly different properties, containing for example less giant planets.”
Early Evolution of Stellar Groups and Clusters: Environmental Effects on Forming Planetary Systems (2005, background): “As a result, giant planet formation may be compromised around smaller stars (see also Laughlin et al. 2004).”
Biosignatures from Earth-Like Planets Around M Dwarfs (2005, neutral): “Numerical simulations predicted that Neptune-like and terrestrial-type planets may be common around M stars, given sufficient disk mass (Wetherill, 1996; Laughlin et al. , 2004), though formation gas giants may be inhibited (Laughlin (cid:2) M ⊕ ) around the M2.”