A novel eccentricity parameterization for transit-only models

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new eccentricity parameterization method for transit-only models, enabling more accurate and efficient estimation of planetary eccentricity from transit data alone.

Contribution

The paper proposes a novel eccentricity parameterization that improves the accuracy and precision of eccentricity estimates in transit-only fits compared to traditional methods.

Findings

Accurately recover eccentricity in simulated systems using transit data.

Traditional parameterizations often lead to inaccurate eccentricity estimates.

The new method improves both accuracy and precision in eccentricity determination.

Abstract

We present a novel eccentricity parameterization for transit-only fits that allows us to efficiently sample the eccentricity and argument of periastron, while being able to generate a self-consistent model of a planet in a Keplerian orbit around its host star. With simulated fits of 330 randomly generated systems, we demonstrate that typical parameterizations often lead to inaccurate and overly precise determinations of the planetary eccentricity. However, our proposed parameterization allows us to accurately -- and often precisely -- recover the eccentricity for the simulated planetary systems with only transit data available.