Kepler's Missing Planets
Jason H. Steffen (Northwestern University, CIERA Fellow)

TL;DR
This study analyzes the distribution of orbital period ratios in Kepler multi-planet systems, revealing potential excesses near resonances that suggest dynamical interactions and the presence of missing planets affecting system architecture.
Contribution
It introduces a model comparing high and low multiplicity systems to identify potential missing planets and resonance effects in Kepler data.
Findings
Excess of planet pairs between 2:1 and 3:1 resonances in low multiplicity systems
Significant excess of planets near the 2:1 resonance in three-planet systems
Period ratio distributions can guide searches for missing planets
Abstract
We investigate the distributions of the orbital period ratios of adjacent planets in high multiplicity \kepler\ systems (four or more planets) and low multiplicity systems (two planets). Modeling the low multiplicity sample as essentially equivalent to the high multiplicity sample, but with unobserved intermediate planets, we find some evidence for an excess of planet pairs between the 2:1 and 3:1 Mean Motion Resonances in the low multiplicity sample. This possible excess may be the result of strong dynamical interactions near these or other resonances or it may be a byproduct of other evolutionary events or processes such as planetary collisions. Three planet systems show a significant excess of planets near the 2:1 Mean Motion Resonance that is not as prominent in either of the other samples. This observation may imply a correlation between strong dynamical interactions and observed…
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