Hot Jupiters Are Asynchronous Rotators

Abstract Hot Jupiters are typically assumed to be synchronously rotating, from tidal locking. Their thermally driven atmospheric winds experience Lorentz drag on the planetary magnetic field anchored at depth. We find that the magnetic torque does not integrate to zero over the entire atmosphere. The resulting angular momentum feedback on the bulk interior can thus drive the planet away from synchronous rotation. Using a toy tidal–ohmic model and atmospheric general circulation model outputs for HD189733b, HD209458b, and Kepler7b, we establish that off-synchronous rotation can be substantial at tidal–ohmic equilibrium for sufficiently hot and/or magnetized hot Jupiters. Potential consequences of asynchronous rotation for hot Jupiter phenomenology motivate follow-up work on the tidal–ohmic scenario with approaches that go beyond our toy model.