Identifying Non-Resonant Kepler Planetary Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces an algebraic method to identify Kepler 2-planet systems that cannot be in certain mean motion resonances, helping to clarify the true dynamical states of these exoplanetary systems.

Contribution

The authors develop a novel algebraic approach to determine non-resonant systems among Kepler 2-planet candidates, refining the understanding of planetary system configurations.

Findings

Identified 70 systems that cannot be in 1st-4th order resonance.

Most near-resonant systems are not actually in resonance.

Supports the idea that many systems are near resonance but not resonant.

Abstract

The Kepler mission has discovered a plethora of multiple transiting planet candidate exosystems, many of which feature putative pairs of planets near mean motion resonance commensurabilities. Identifying potentially resonant systems could help guide future observations and enhance our understanding of planetary formation scenarios. We develop and apply an algebraic method to determine which Kepler 2-planet systems cannot be in a 1st-4th order resonance, given the current, publicly available data. This method identifies when any potentially resonant angle of a system must circulate. We identify and list 70 near-resonant systems which cannot actually reside in resonance, assuming a widely-used formulation for deriving planetary masses from their observed radii and that these systems do not contain unseen bodies that affect the interactions of the observed planets. This work strengthens the argument that a high fraction of exoplanetary systems may be near resonance but not actually in resonance.