Related papers: The Dynamic Proto-atmospheres around Low-Mass Plan…
The transfer of circumstellar disk mass and momentum onto the protostar and out into the environment occurs via a variety of mechanisms including magnetospheric accretion, jets, outflows, and disk winds. The interplay of these processes…
While planets in the solar system only have a low inclination with respect to the ecliptic there is mounting evidence that in extrasolar systems the inclination can be very high, at least for close-in planets. One process to alter the…
(Abridged).We present the results of MHD simulations of low mass protoplanets interacting with turbulent disks. We calculate the orbital evolution of `planetesimals' and protoplanets with masses in the range 0 < m_p < 30 M_Earth.…
We develop a semi-analytic model for planet formation during the pre-main sequence contraction phase of a low mass star. During this evolution, the stellar magnetosphere maintains a fixed ratio between the inner disk radius and the stellar…
Outward migration of low-mass planets has recently been shown to be a possibility in non-barotropic disks. We examine the consequences of this result in evolutionary models of protoplanetary disks. Planet migration occurs towards…
Transiting exoplanets provide detailed access to their atmospheres, as the planet's signal can be effectively separated from that of its host star. For transiting exoplanets three fundamental atmospheric measurements are possible:…
Gravitational coupling between protoplanetary discs and planets embedded in them leads to the emergence of spiral density waves, which evolve into shocks as they propagate through the disc. We explore the performance of a semi-analytical…
The heavy element content of giant exoplanets, inferred from structure models based on their radius and mass, often exceeds predictions based on classical core accretion. Pebble drift, coupled with volatile evaporation, has been proposed as…
The tidal perturbation of embedded protoplanets on their natal disks has been widely attributed to be the cause of gap-ring structures in sub-mm images of protoplanetary disks around T Tauri stars. Numerical simulations of this process have…
Atmospheric composition of exoplanets is often considered as a probe of the planet's formation condition. How exactly the initial chemical memory may be altered from the birth to the final state of the planet, however, remains unknown.…
The upper atmospheres of the planets and their satellites are more directly exposed to sunlight and solar wind particles than the surface or the deeper atmospheric layers. At the altitudes where the associated energy is deposited, the…
The great diversity of extrasolar planetary systems has challenged our understanding of how planets form, and how their orbits evolve as they form. Among the various processes that may account for this diversity, the gravitational…
Observations of exoplanet atmospheres have shown that aerosols, like in the Solar System, are common across a variety of temperatures and planet types. The formation and distribution of these aerosols are inextricably intertwined with the…
It is now understood that the accretion of terrestrial planets naturally involves giant collisions, the moon-forming impact being a well known example. In the aftermath of such collisions the surface of the surviving planet is very hot and…
Orbits of known extrasolar planets that are located outside the tidal circularization regions of their parent stars are often substantially eccentric. By contrast, planetary orbits in our Solar System are approximately circular, reflecting…
Most models used to predict or fit exoplanet transmission spectra do not include all the effects of atmospheric refraction. Namely, the angular size of the star with respect to the planet can limit the lowest altitude, or highest density…
Since planet occurrence and primordial atmospheric retention probability increase with period, the occurrence-weighted median planets discovered by transit surveys may bear little resemblance to the low-occurrence, short-period planets…
Forming planets around young, fast-rotating solar-like stars are exposed to an intense X-ray/extreme ultraviolet radiation field and strongly magnetized stellar winds, as a consequence of the high magnetic activity of these stars. Under…
Recent discoveries of strongly misaligned transiting exoplanets pose a challenge to the established planet formation theory which assumes planetary systems to form and evolve in isolation. However, the fact that the majority of stars…
Many exoplanets in close-in orbits are observed to have relatively high eccentricities and large stellar obliquities. We explore the possibility that these result from planet-planet scattering by studying the dynamical outcomes from a large…