Quick-MESS: A fast statistical tool for Exoplanet Imaging Surveys
Abstract
Several tools have been developed in the past few years for the statistical analysis of the exoplanet search surveys, mostly using a combination of Monte-Carlo simulations or a Bayesian approach.Here we present the Quick-MESS, a grid-based, non-Monte Carlo tool aimed to perform statistical analyses on results from and help with the planning of direct imaging surveys. Quick-MESS uses the (expected) contrast curves for direct imaging surveys to assess for each target the probability that a planet of a given mass and semi-major axis can be detected. By using a grid-based approach Quick-MESS is typically more than an order of magnitude faster than tools based on Monte-Carlo sampling of the planet distribution. In addition, Quick-MESS is extremely flexible, enabling the study of a large range of parameter space for the mass and semi-major axes distributions without the need of re-simulating the planet distribution. In order to show examples of the capabilities of the Quick-MESS, we present the analysis of the Gemini Deep Planet Survey and the predictions for upcoming surveys with extreme-AO instruments.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1306.0935,
title = {Quick-MESS: A fast statistical tool for Exoplanet Imaging Surveys},
author = {Mariangela Bonavita and Ernst J. W. de Mooij and Ray Jayawardhana},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1306.0935},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
keywords: Stars, Extrasolar Planets, Data Analysis and Techniques