Related papers: A Minimum Mass Nebula for M Dwarfs
A debris disk is a constituent of any planetary system surrounding a main sequence star. We study whether close stellar encounters can disrupt and strip a debris disk of its planetesimals in the expanding open cluster of its birth with a…
The widespread prevalence of close-in, nearly coplanar super-Earth- and sub-Neptune-sized planets in multiple-planet systems was one of the most surprising results from the Kepler mission. By studying a uniform sample of Kepler "multis"…
While the recent microlensing discoveries of super-Earths orbiting two M dwarf stars have been taken as support for the core accretion mechanism of giant planet formation, we show here that these planets could also have been formed by the…
We investigate the origins of Kepler-419, a peculiar system hosting two nearly coplanar and highly eccentric gas giants with apsidal orientations librating around anti-alignment, and use this system to place constraints on the properties of…
We investigate the influence of an accretion disk on the angular momentum (AM) evolution of young M dwarfs, which parameters govern the AM distribution after the disk phase, and whether this leads to a mass-independent distribution of SAM.…
To investigate the potential connection between the intense X-ray emission from young, low-mass stars and the lifetimes of their circumstellar, planet-forming disks, we have compiled the X-ray luminosities ($L_X$) of M stars in the $\sim$8…
We address the question of whether protoplanetary discs around low mass stars (e.g. M-dwarfs) may be longer lived than their solar-type counterparts. This question is particularly relevant to assess the planet-making potential of these…
The formation of brown dwarfs via encounters between proto-stars has been confirmed with high-resolution numerical simulations with a restricted treatment of the thermal conditions. The new results indicate that young brown dwarfs (BDs)…
Observations of circumstellar disks provide a powerful tool for our understanding of planetary systems dynamics. Analogs to the Solar System asteroid belts, debris disks result from the collision of the remaining solid material of the…
ALMA has observed a plethora of ring-like structures in planet forming discs at distances of 10-100 au from their host star. Although several mechanisms have been invoked to explain the origin of such rings, a common explanation is that…
We present preliminary results from our spectroscopic search for planets within 1 AU of metal-poor field dwarfs using NASA time with HIRES on Keck I. The core accretion model of gas giant planet formation is sensitive to the metallicity of…
In light of the growing interest in searching for low mass, rocky planets, we investigate the impact of starspots on radial velocity searches for earth-mass planets in orbit about M dwarf stars. Since new surveys targeting M dwarfs will…
The planets with a radius $<$ 4 $R$$_\oplus$ observed by the Kepler mission exhibit a unique feature, and propose a challenge for current planetary formation models. The tidal effect between a planet and its host star plays an essential…
Compared to planets around Sun-like stars, relatively little is known about the occurrence rate and orbital properties of planets around stars more massive than 1.3 Msun. The apparent deficit of planets around massive stars is due to a…
The planet-metallicity correlation serves as a potential link between exoplanet systems as we observe them today and the effects of bulk composition on the planet formation process. Many observers have noted a tendency for Jovian planets to…
We analyze 8 years of precise radial velocity measurements from the Keck Planet Search, characterizing the detection threshold, selection effects, and completeness of the survey. We carry out a systematic search for planets by assessing the…
(Abridged) We present results from a JCMT/SCUBA 850 um search for cold dust around nearby young stars belonging to the beta Pic (t~12 Myr) and the Local Association (t~50 Myr) moving groups. Unlike most past sub-mm studies, our sample was…
The Kepler Mission has discovered thousands of planets with radii $<4\ R_\oplus$, paving the way for the first statistical studies of the dynamics, formation, and evolution of these sub-Neptunes and super-Earths. Planetary masses are an…
Previous studies of planet occurrence rates largely relied on photometric stellar characterizations. In this paper, we present planet occurrence rates for mid-type M dwarfs using spectroscopy, parallaxes, and photometry to determine stellar…
The discovery of planets orbiting at less than 1 au from their host star and less massive than Saturn in various exoplanetary systems revolutionized our theories of planetary formation. The fundamental question is whether these close-in…