Fast Inversion Method for Determination of Planetary Parameters from Transit Timing Variations

TL;DR

This paper introduces a rapid algorithm for extracting the mass and orbital parameters of non-transiting exoplanets from transit timing variation data, enhancing the ability to characterize multi-planet systems.

Contribution

The paper presents a new fast inversion algorithm for determining planetary parameters from TTV data, improving analysis speed and accuracy over previous methods.

Findings

Planetary parameters can be reliably inferred from TTV data.

The method works for a variety of planetary system configurations.

TTV analysis can determine mutual orbital inclinations.

Abstract

The Transit Timing Variation (TTV) method relies on monitoring changes in timing of transits of known exoplanets. Non-transiting planets in the system can be inferred from TTVs by their gravitational interaction with the transiting planet. The TTV method is sensitive to low-mass planets that cannot be detected by other means. Here we describe a fast algorithm that can be used to determine the mass and orbit of the non-transiting planets from the TTV data. We apply our code, ttvim.f, to a wide variety of planetary systems to test the uniqueness of the TTV inversion problem and its dependence on the precision of TTV observations. We find that planetary parameters, including the mass and mutual orbital inclination of planets, can be determined from the TTV datasets that should become available in near future. Unlike the radial velocity technique, the TTV method can therefore be used to characterize the inclination distribution of multi-planet systems.