Santiago Torres

Research

Publications

Xing-Torres et al., in prep.

 

Planetary Systems in Post-main Sequence Stars

Although circumbinary planetary systems are relatively prevalent, whether they can survive if the host binary interacts remains unclear. The tightest orbit binaries should host the most stable and therefore long-lived circumbinary planetary systems, but they are also the systems that are expected to experience mass transfer, common envelope evolution, or stellar mergers. Subdwarfs are one of the most common types of products resulting from low-mass binary evolution and, since they are also relatively long-lived and easy to recognize, understanding the impact of subdwarf formation on the surrounding planetary system therefore constitutes one of the most promising avenues for revealing how binary evolution, in general, affects planetary systems. With current and upcoming surveys and instruments that seek planetary systems around evolved stars like white dwarfs (e.g., Roman and TESS), it is becoming urgent to explore the dynamical stability of planetary systems in conjunction with accurately representing interacting binaries. This is especially true after the suggested existence of a 3-planet system orbiting around the subdwarf+M-dwarf binary Kepler 451, which raises new questions about the survival of hot Jupiters during the stellar evolution phase of the primary star. Are the planets primordial? or did they form after the evolution of the star?