Tidal Sculpting of Short-Period Exoplanets

A large fraction of exoplanetary systems contain planets that orbit very close to their host stars. With orbital periods in the range of days to weeks, tidal forces lead to significant orbital and physical effects on the planets. In particular, time-varying tidal deformations lead to planetary orbital decay and tidal heating in the planetary interiors, which manifests physically as radius inflation. I will focus on various observational mysteries of short-period exoplanet demographics and show how tidal dynamics offer a compelling explanation for these puzzles. I will highlight how our tidal theories can be tested with novel JWST observations.

Speaker: Sarah Millholland, Massachusetts Institute of Technology