Related papers: Understanding the Mass-Radius Relation for Sub-Nep…
Fundamental to our understanding of planetary bulk compositions is the relationship between their masses and radii, two properties that are often not simultaneously known for most exoplanets. However, while many previous studies have…
NASA's Kepler mission identified over 4000 extrasolar planets that transit (cross in front of) their host stars. This sample has revealed detailed features in the demographics of planet sizes and orbital spacings. However, knowledge of…
In this paper we investigate the formation of Uranus and Neptune, according to the core-nucleated accretion model, considering formation locations ranging from 12 to 30 AU from the Sun, and with various disk solid-surface densities and core…
(Abridged) Inspired by the Kepler planet discoveries, we consider the thermal contraction of planets close to their parent star, under the influence of evaporation. The mass-loss rates are based on hydrodynamic models of evaporation that…
Sub-Neptune planets are a very common type of planets. They are inferred to harbour a primordial (H/He) envelope, on top of a (rocky) core, which dominates the mass. Here, we investigate the long-term consequences of the core properties on…
The orbital period ratios of neighbouring sub-Neptunes are distributed asymmetrically near first-order resonances. There are deficits of systems---"troughs" in the period ratio histogram---just short of commensurability, and…
The bulk composition of an exoplanet is commonly inferred from its average density. For small planets, however, the average density is not unique within the range of compositions. Variations of a number of important planetary…
Recently, several groups have resolved a gap that bifurcates planets between the size of Earth and Neptune into two populations. The location and depth of this feature is an important signature of the physical processes that form and sculpt…
Previous work has established the enhanced occurrence of compact systems of multiple small exoplanets around metal-poor stars. Understanding the origin of this effect in the planet formation process is a topic of ongoing research. Here we…
Mini-Neptunes seem to be common planets. In this work we investigate the possible formation histories and predicted occurrence rates of mini-Neptunes assuming the planets form beyond the iceline. We consider pebble and planetesimal…
Using the cumulative catalog of planets detected by the NASA Kepler mission, we reconstruct the intrinsic occurrence of Earth- to Neptune-size (1 - 4$R_{\oplus}$) planets and their distributions with radius and orbital period. We analyze…
The size distribution of exoplanets is a bimodal division into two groups: Rocky planet (<2 Earth radii) and water-rich planet (>2 Earth radii) with or without gaseous envelope.
Constraining the planetary composition is essential for exoplanetary characterization. In this paper, we use a statistical analysis to determine the characteristic maximum (threshold) radii for various compositions for exoplanets with…
We present a comprehensive analysis of planetary radii ordering within multi-planet systems, namely their ordinal position with respect to their size in a given system, utilizing data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive. In addition, we…
Recently K2 and TESS have discovered transiting planets with radii between $\sim$ 5-10 R$_\oplus$ around stars with ages $<100$ Myr. These young planets are likely to be the progenitors of the ubiquitous super-earths/sub-neptunes, that are…
Knowledge of both the mass and radius of an exoplanet allows us to estimate its mean density, and therefore its composition. Exoplanets seem to fill a very large parameter space in terms of mass and composition, and unlike the…
We present the results of planet formation N-body simulations based on a comprehensive physical model that includes planetary mass growth through mutual embryo collisions and planetesimal/boulder accretion, viscous disc evolution, planetary…
We present newly derived stellar parameters and the detailed abundances of 19 elements of seven stars with small planets discovered by NASA's Kepler Mission. Each star save one has at least one planet with a radius <= 1.6 R_Earth,…
The sizes of small planets have been known to be bi-modal, with a gap separating planets that have lost their primordial atmospheres (super-Earths), and the ones that retain them (mini-Neptunes). Here, we report evidences for another…
There is growing evidence that the population of close-in planets discovered by the Kepler mission was sculpted by atmospheric loss, though the typical timescale for this evolution is not well-constrained. Among a highly complete sample of…