Higher depletion of lithium in planet host stars: no age and mass effect

TL;DR

This study finds that planet-hosting stars have lower lithium levels than similar stars without planets, and this difference is not due to age or mass, implying a link to planetary system formation.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates that stellar mass and age do not explain lithium depletion in planet-host stars, suggesting a connection to planetary system evolution.

Findings

Planet host stars show significantly lower lithium abundances.

Mass and age do not account for lithium differences.

Lithium depletion may be linked to planetary system formation.

Abstract

Recent observational work by Israelian et al. has shown that sun-like planet host stars in the temperature range 5700K < Teff < 5850K have lithium abundances that are significantly lower than those observed for "single" field stars. In this letter we use stellar evolutionary models to show that differences in stellar mass and age are not responsible for the observed correlation. This result, along with the finding of Israelian et al., strongly suggest that the observed lithium difference is likely linked to some process related to the formation and evolution of planetary systems.