Speaker: Xian-Yu Wang (Indiana University)

Time: 10:00 am, October 14 (Wednesday)

Location: Lecture Hall, 3rd Floor

#Tencent meeting：334-447-971

Abstract:

Giant exoplanets provide a unique window into the formation and dynamical evolution of planetary systems. Since the discovery of the first hot Jupiters, observations have revealed a remarkable diversity in their orbital properties and system architectures, challenging simple pictures of planet formation and migration. In this talk, I will review how our understanding of exo-giants has evolved from characterizing individual planets to reconstructing the dynamical histories of planetary systems. I will focus on several key architectural tracers, including orbital periods, eccentricities, spin-orbit angles, planetary and stellar companions, and mutual inclinations. In particular, I will highlight recent observational evidence that hot and warm Jupiters occupy distinct dynamical environments, and show how measurements of three-dimensional architectures in multi-planet systems are providing new constraints on planet-planet interactions and migration pathways. Finally, I will discuss how the rapidly growing sample of well-characterized planetary systems is moving the field toward a population-level understanding of when and how giant planets acquire their present-day architectures.

Personal Information:

Dr. Xian-Yu Wang is currently a Sullivan Prize Postdoctoral Fellow at Indiana University. He received his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the National Astronomical Observatories of China in 2023. His research focuses on exoplanet demographics and system architectures, particularly the formation and dynamical evolution of giant planetary systems, with extensive use of photometric and spectroscopic observations.