Overstable Librations can account for the Paucity of Mean Motion Resonances among Exoplanet Pairs

We assess the multi-planet systems discovered by the Kepler satellite in terms of current ideas about orbital migration and eccentricity damping due to planetdisk interactions. Our primary focus is on first-order mean motion resonances, which we investigate analytically to lowest order in eccentricity. Only a few percent of planet pairs are in close proximity to a resonance. However, predicted migration rates (parameterized by τn = n/|ṅ|) imply that during convergent migration most planets would have been captured into first order resonances. Eccentricity damping (parameterized by τe = e/|ė|) offers a plausible resolution. Estimates suggest τe/τn ∼ (h/a) ∼ 10, where h/a is the ratio of disk thickness to radius. Together, eccentricity damping and orbital migration give rise to an equilibrium eccentricity, eeq ∼ (τe/τn). Capture is permanent provided eeq . μ , where μ denotes the planet to star mass ratio. But for eeq & μ , capture is only temporary because librations around equilibrium are overstable and lead to passage through resonance on timescale τe. Most Kepler planet pairs have eeq > μ . Since τn ≫ τe is the timescale for migration between neighboring resonances, only a modest percentage of pairs end up trapped in resonances after the disk disappears. Thus the paucity of resonances among Kepler pairs should not be taken as evidence for in situ planet formation or the disruptive effects of disk turbulence. Planet pairs close to a mean motion resonance typically exhibit period ratios 1-2% larger than those for exact resonance. The direction of this shift undoubtedly reflects the same asymmetry that requires convergent migration for resonance capture. Permanent resonance capture at these separations from exact resonance would demand μ(τn/τe) 1/2 & 0.01, a value that estimates of μ California Institute of Technology, MC 150-21, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA), AB(Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA