ORCHARD: A General Planetary Evolution Code
Roberto Tejada Arevalo, Adam Burrows, Ankan Sur, Yubo Su
TLDR
ORCHARD is a versatile planetary evolution code modeling structures from terrestrial to gas giant planets up to 10 Jupiter masses.
Key contributions
- Models evolution of planets from 0.5 Earth to 10 Jupiter masses.
- Supports inhomogeneous, non-adiabatic gas giant and sub-Neptune evolution.
- Simulates mantle and core solidification in terrestrial and super-Earth planets.
- Includes advanced equations of state and diverse atmospheric boundary conditions.
Why it matters
ORCHARD unifies planetary evolution modeling across a broad mass range, aiding studies of diverse exoplanets and Solar System bodies with a flexible, public tool.
Original Abstract
We present \texttt{ORCHARD}, a publicly available planetary evolution code based on the gas giant evolution code, \texttt{APPLE}, capable of modeling the evolution and structures of terrestrial, super-Earth, sub-Neptune, Neptune, and gas giant planets and exoplanets from 0.5 M$_\oplus$ to 10 M$_J$. It supports not only the inhomogeneous and non-adiabatic evolution of gas giants and sub-Neptunes, but also the solidification of the mantles and cores of terrestrial planets, sub-Neptunes, and super-Earths. \texttt{ORCHARD} incorporates a state-of-the-art hydrogen-helium equation of state, ``metal" equations of state (water, ice mixtures, enstatite/perovskite, olivine/forsterite, iron), and atmospheric boundary conditions ranging from detailed non-gray radiative transfer models for Solar System giants to irradiated sub-Neptune atmospheres and bare rocky surfaces. The purpose of \texttt{ORCHARD} is to provide the scientific community with a flexible, unified tool for modeling planetary structures and evolution across the entire mass continuum of general astrophysical and planetary interest.
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