Research
Planet’s long-time (secular) orbital evolution are affected by various dynamical processes. In a system with two close inner earth-sized planets and a massive outer companion, we try to predict the stability of such a hierarchical system from its initial conditions. By considering the star-planet, planet-planet and distant companion-planet interaction, we present an analytical criterion of whether a system is stable in a long period of time. These three interactions are described by general relativity, Laplace-Lagrange secular theory and eccentric Kozai-Lidov effect, respectively. This result spares us from the redundancy to run computation-consuming simulations, and serve as a potential method to predict the existence of undiscovered distant companions from the behavior of observed planets.
We seek to build a three-dimensional kinematic map of the stars near the center of Orion Nebula Cluster using the observational data from the W. M. Keck Observatory. As Orion Nebula Cluster is the nearest site of ongoing massive star formation, this would help us better understand the formation of stars.
