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Register a new userThe Demographics of Exoplanets
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In the broadest sense, the primary goal of exoplanet demographic surveys is to determine the frequency and distribution of planets as a function of as many of the physical parameters that may influence planet formation and evolution as possible, over as broad of a range of these parameters as possible. Empirically-determined exoplanet demographics provide the ground truth that all planet formation and evolution theories must reproduce. By comparing these planet distributions to the predictions of planet formation theories, we can begin to both test and refine these theories. In this chapter, we review the major results on exoplanet demographics to date. In this context, we identify a set of important open questions that remain to be answered. We outline the challenges of measuring the demographics of exoplanets using the variety of detection methods at our disposal. Finally, we summarize some of the future opportunities for refining and expanding our understanding of exoplanet demographics.
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The SHINE project is a 500-star survey performed with SPHERE on the VLT for the purpose of directly detecting new substellar companions and understanding their formation and early evolution. Here we present an initial statistical analysis for a subsample of 150 stars that are representative of the full SHINE sample. Our goal is to constrain the frequency of substellar companions with masses between 1 and 75 MJup and semimajor axes between 5 and 300 au. We adopt detection limits as a function of angular separation from the survey data for all stars converted into mass and projected orbital separation using the BEX-COND-hot evolutionary tracks and known distance to each system. Based on the results obtained for each star and on the 13 detections in the sample, we use a MCMC tool to compare our observations to two different types of models. The first is a parametric model based on observational constraints, and the second type are numerical models that combine advanced core accretion and gravitational instability planet population synthesis. Using the parametric model, we show that the frequencies of systems with at least one substellar companion are $23.0_{-9.7}^{+13.5}%$, $5.8_{-2.8}^{+4.7}%$, and $12.6_{-7.1}^{+12.9}%$ for BA, FGK, and M stars, respectively. We also demonstrate that a planet-like formation pathway probably dominates the mass range from 1-75 MJup for companions around BA stars, while for M dwarfs, brown dwarf binaries dominate detections. In contrast, a combination of binary star-like and planet-like formation is required to best fit the observations for FGK stars. Using our population model and restricting our sample to FGK stars, we derive a frequency of $5.7_{-2.8}^{+3.8}%$, consistent with predictions from the parametric model. More generally, the frequency values that we derive are in excellent agreement with values obtained in previous studies.
Given that the macromolecular building blocks of life were likely produced photochemically in the presence of ultraviolet (UV) light, we identify some general constraints on which stars produce sufficient UV for this photochemistry. We estimate how much light is needed for the UV photochemistry by experimentally measuring the rate constant for the UV chemistry (`light chemistry, needed for prebiotic synthesis) versus the rate constants for the bimolecular reactions that happen in the absence of the UV light (`dark chemistry). We make these measurements for representative photochemical reactions involving SO$_3^{2-}$ and HS$^-$. By balancing the rates for the light and dark chemistry, we delineate the abiogenesis zones around stars of different stellar types based on whether their UV fluxes are sufficient for building up this macromolecular prebiotic inventory. We find that the SO$_3^{2-}$ light chemistry is rapid enough to build up the prebiotic inventory for stars hotter than K5 (4400 K). We show how the abiogenesis zone overlaps with the liquid water habitable zone. Stars cooler than K5 may also drive the formation of these building blocks if they are very active. The HS$^-$ light chemistry is too slow to work even for the Early Earth.
Large ground- and space-based telescopes will be able to observe Earth-like planets in the near future. We explore how different planetary surfaces can strongly influence the climate, atmospheric composition, and remotely detectable spectra of terrestrial rocky exoplanets in the habitable zone depending on the host stars incident irradiation spectrum for a range of Sun-like host stars from F0V to K7V. We update a well-tested 1D climate-photochemistry model to explore the changes of a planetary environment for different surfaces for different host stars. Our results show that using a wavelength-dependent surface albedo is critical for modeling potentially habitable rocky exoplanets.
The primary objectives of the ExoplANETS-A project are to: establish new knowledge on exoplanet atmospheres; establish new insight on influence of the host star on the planet atmosphere; disseminate knowledge, using online, web-based platforms. The project, funded under the EUs Horizon-2020 programme, started in January 2018 and has a duration ~3 years. We present an overview of the project, the activities concerning the host stars and some early results on the host stars.
Gaps in protoplanetary disks have long been hailed as signposts of planet formation. However, a direct link between exoplanets and disks remains hard to identify. We present a large sample study of ALMA disk surveys of nearby star-forming regions to disentangle this connection. All disks are classified as either structured (transition, ring, extended) or non-structured (compact) disks. Although low-resolution observations may not identify large scale substructure, we assume that an extended disk must contain substructure from a dust evolution argument. A comparison across ages reveals that structured disks retain high dust masses up to at least 10 Myr, whereas the dust mass of compact, non-structured disks decreases over time. This can be understood if the dust mass evolves primarily by radial drift, unless drift is prevented by pressure bumps. We identify a stellar mass dependence of the fraction of structured disks. We propose a scenario linking this dependence with that of giant exoplanet occurrence rates. We show that there are enough exoplanets to account for the observed disk structures if transitional disks are created by exoplanets more massive than Jupiter, and ring disks by exoplanets more massive than Neptune, under the assumption that most of those planets eventually migrate inwards. On the other hand, the known anti-correlation between transiting super-Earths and stellar mass implies those planets must form in the disks without observed structure, consistent with formation through pebble accretion in drift-dominated disks. These findings support an evolutionary scenario where the early formation of giant planets determines the disks dust evolution and its observational appearance.
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