  Thermal, orbital, and rotational dynamics of tidally loaded exoplanets are
interconnected by intricate feedback. The rheological structure of the planet
determines its susceptibility to tidal deformation and, as a consequence,
participates in shaping its orbit. The orbital parameters and the spin state,
conversely, control the rate of tidal dissipation and may lead to substantial
changes of the interior. We investigate the coupled thermal-orbital evolution
of differentiated rocky exoplanets governed by the Andrade viscoelastic
rheology. The coupled evolution is treated by a semi-analytical model, 1d
parametrized heat transfer and self-consistently calculated tidal dissipation.
First, we conduct several parametric studies, exploring the effect of the
rheological properties, the planet's size, and the orbital eccentricity on the
tidal locking and dissipation. These tests show that the role of tidal locking
into high spin-orbit resonances is most prominent on low eccentric orbits,
where it results in substantially higher tidal heating than the synchronous
rotation. Second, we calculate the long-term evolution of three currently known
low-mass exoplanets with nonzero orbital eccentricity and absent or yet unknown
eccentricity forcing (namely GJ 625 b, GJ 411 b, and Proxima Centauri b). The
tidal model incorporates the formation of a stable magma ocean and a
consistently evolving spin rate. We find that the thermal state is strongly
affected by the evolution of eccentricity and spin state and proceeds as a
sequence of thermal equilibria. Final despinning into synchronous rotation
slows down the orbital evolution and helps to maintain long-term stable orbital
eccentricity.
