On the Luminosity of Young Jupiters

Traditional thermal evolution models of giant planets employ arbitrary initial conditions selected more for computational expediency than physical accuracy. Since the initial conditions are eventually forgotten by the evolving planet, this approach is valid for mature planets, if not young ones. To explore the evolution at young ages of jovian mass planets we have employed model planets created by one implementation of the core accretion mechanism as initial conditions for evolutionary calculations. The luminosities and early cooling rates of young planets are highly sensitive to their internal entropies, which depend on the formation mechanism and are highly model dependent. As a result of the accretion shock through which most of the planetary mass is processed, we find lower initial internal entropies than commonly assumed in published evolution