2016ApJ...829..114B

Hot Jupiters, giant extrasolar planets with orbital periods shorter than ∼10 days, have long been thought to form at large radial distances, only to subsequently experience long-range inward migration. Here, we offer the contrasting view that a substantial fraction of the hot Jupiter population formed in situ via the core-accretion process. We show that under conditions appropriate to the inner regions of protoplanetary disks, rapid gas accretion can be initiated by super-Earth-type planets, comprising 10-20 Earth masses of refractory material. An in situ formation scenario leads to testable consequences, including the expectation that hot Jupiters should frequently be accompanied by additional low-mass planets with periods shorter than ∼100 days. Our calculations further demonstrate that dynamical interactions during the early stages of planetary systems' lifetimes should increase the inclinations of such companions, rendering transits rare. High-precision radial velocity monitoring provides the best prospect for their detection.