Long-term tidal evolution of the TRAPPIST-1 system

The ultracool M-dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 is surrounded by seven planets configured in a resonant chain. Transit-timing variations have shown that the planets are caught in multiple three-body resonances and that their orbits are slightly eccentric, probably caused by resonant forcing. The current values of the eccentricities could be a remnant from their formation. Here we run numerical simulations using fictitious forces of trapping the fully-grown planets in resonances as they migrated in the gas disc, followed by numerical simulations detailing their tidal evolution. For a reduced disc scale height $h\sim 0.03$–0.05, the eccentricities of the planets upon capture in resonance are higher than their current values by factors of a few. We show that the current eccentricities and spacing of planets d to h are natural outcomes of coupled tidal evolution wherein the planets simultaneously damp their eccentricities and separate due to their resonant interaction. We further show that the planets evolve along a set of equilibrium curves in semimajor axis–eccentricity phase space that are defined by the resonances, and that conserve angular momentum. As such, the current 8:5–5:3–(3:2)${}^2$–4:3–3:2 resonant configuration cannot be reproduced from a primordial (3:2)${}^4$–4:3–3:2 resonant configuration from tidal dissipation in the planets alone. We use our simulations to constrain the long-term tidal parameters $k_2\mathrm{/}Q$ for planets b to e, which are in the range ${10}^{-3}$ to ${10}^{-2}$, and show that these are mostly consistent with those obtained from interior modelling following reasonable assumptions.