Chaotic Dynamics of Stellar Spin in Binaries and the Production of Misaligned Hot Jupiters

Abstract

Motivated by observed hot Jupiter systems with high stellar obliquities, we examine the dynamics of stellar spin in planetary systems with distant stellar companions, with inclinations sufficiently high so that the planet undergoes Kozai-Lidov oscillations. In this scenario, the stellar spin axis undergoes complex (and often chaotic) motion. We describe the stellar spin dynamics, highlight the importance of the stellar spin properties, and show that this complex evolution can be preserved in the final distributions of obliquity angles.