Publications (35)
Current Correlators and AdS/CFT Geometry
Edwin Barnes, Elie Gorbatov, Ken Intriligator +1
We consider current-current correlators in 4d SCFTs, and also 3d SCFTs, in connection with AdS/CFT geometry. The superconformal symmetry of the SCFT has th…
A Green Bank Telescope search for narrowband technosignatures between 1.1-1.9 GHz during 12 Kepler planetary transits
Sofia Z. Sheikh, Shubham Kanodia, Emily Lubar +12
A growing avenue for determining the prevalence of life beyond Earth is to search for "technosignatures" from extraterrestrial intelligences/agents. Technosignatures require signif…
EarthFinder Probe Mission Concept Study: Characterizing nearby stellar exoplanet systems with Earth-mass analogs for future direct imaging
Peter Plavchan, Gautam Vasisht, Chas Beichman +52
EarthFinder is a NASA Astrophysics Probe mission concept selected for study as input to the 2020 Astrophysics National Academies Decadal Survey. The EarthFinder concept is based on…
Refined Properties of the HD 130322 Planetary System
Natalie R. Hinkel, Stephen R. Kane, Gregory W. Henry +5
Exoplanetary systems closest to the Sun, with the brightest host stars, provide the most favorable opportunities for characterization studies of the host star and their planet(s).…
The Exact Superconformal R-symmetry Minimizes
Edwin Barnes, Elie Gorbatov, Ken Intriligator +2
We present a new, general constraint which, in principle, determines the superconformal symmetry of 4d SCFTs, and also 3d SCFTs. Among all possibilities, t…
The Fermi Paradox and the Aurora Effect: Exo-civilization Settlement, Expansion and Steady States
Jonathan Carroll-Nellenback, Adam Frank, Jason Wright +1
We model the settlement of the galaxy by space-faring civilizations in order to address issues related to the Fermi Paradox. We explore the problem in a way that avoids assumptions…
The Aligned Orbit of WASP-148b, the Only Known Hot Jupiter with a Nearby Warm Jupiter Companion, from NEID and HIRES
Xian-Yu Wang, Malena Rice, Songhu Wang +39
We present spectroscopic measurements of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for WASP-148b, the only known hot Jupiter with a nearby warm-Jupiter companion, from the WIYN/NEID and Keck/…
Evidence for the Strongest Version of the 4d a-Theorem, via a-Maximization Along RG Flows
Edwin Barnes, Ken Intriligator, Brian Wecht +1
In earlier work, we (KI and BW) gave a two line "almost proof" (for supersymmetric RG flows) of the weakest form of the conjectured 4d a-theorem, that a_{IR}<a_{UV}, using our resu…
An extreme test case for planet formation: a close-in Neptune orbiting an ultracool star
Gudmundur Stefansson, Suvrath Mahadevan, Yamila Miguel +27
In current theories of planet formation, close-orbiting planets as massive as Neptune are expected to be very rare around low-mass stars. We report the discovery of a Neptune-mass…
Searching for GEMS: Confirmation of TOI-5573b, a Cool, Saturn-like Planet Orbiting An M-dwarf
Rachel B Fernandes, Shubham Kanodia, Megan Delamer +35
We present the confirmation of TOI-5573b, a Saturn-sized exoplanet on an 8.79-day orbit around an early M-dwarf (3790 K, 0.59 R, 0.61 M, 12.30 J mag). TOI-5573b has a…
Towards a direct measure of the Galactic acceleration
Sukanya Chakrabarti, Jason Wright, Philip Chang +9
High precision spectrographs can enable not only the discovery of exoplanets, but can also provide a fundamental measurement in Galactic dynamics. Over about ten year baselines, th…
Cosmology with the Lyman-alpha Forest
David H. Weinberg, Scott Burles, Rupert A. C. Croft +11
We outline the physical picture of the high-redshift Ly-alpha forest that has emerged from cosmological simulations, describe statistical characteristics of the forest that can be…
Diffuser-Assisted Infrared Transit Photometry for Four Dynamically Interacting \textit{Kepler} Systems
Shreyas Vissapragada, Daniel Jontof-Hutter, Avi Shporer +11
We present ground-based infrared transit observations for four dynamically interacting \textit{Kepler} planets, including Kepler-29b, Kepler-36c, KOI-1783.01, and Kepler-177c, obta…
RoSETZ: Roman Survey of the Earth Transit Zone -- a SETI-optimized survey for habitable-zone exoplanets
Eamonn Kerins, Supachai Awiphan, Kathryn Edmondson +12
In this White Paper for Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) science, we propose the Roman Survey of the Earth Transit Zone (RoSETZ), a transit search for rocky planets within…
Searching for GEMS: TOI-5688 A b, a low-density giant orbiting a high-metallicity early M-dwarf
Varghese Reji, Shubham Kanodia, Joe Ninan +31
We present the discovery of a low-density planet orbiting the high-metallicity early M-dwarf TOI-5688 A b. This planet was characterized as part of the search for transiting giant…
N=1 RG Flows, Product Groups, and a-Maximization
Edwin Barnes, Ken Intriligator, Brian Wecht +1
We explore new IR phenomena and dualities, arising for product groups, in the context of N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories. The RG running of the multiple couplings can radically a…
Opportunities for Technosignature Science in the Astro2020 Report
Jacob Haqq-Misra, Sofia Sheikh, Manasvi Lingam +7
The Astro2020 report outlines numerous recommendations that could significantly advance technosignature science. Technosignatures refer to any observable manifestations of extrater…
Are We There Yet? Challenges in Quantifying the Frequency of Earth Analogs in the Habitable Zone
Rachel B. Fernandes, Samson Johnson, Galen J. Bergsten +43
Searching for life elsewhere in the universe is one of the most highly prioritized pursuits in astronomy today. However, the ability to observe evidence of Earth-like life through…
Python Leap Second Management and Implementation of Precise Barycentric Correction (barycorrpy)
Shubham Kanodia, Jason Wright
We announce barycorrpy (BCPy) , a Python implementation to calculate precise barycentric corrections well below the 1 cm/s level, following the algorithm of Wright and Eastman (201…
Improving Transit Predictions of Known Exoplanets with TERMS
Stephen R. Kane, David Ciardi, Debra Fischer +7
Transiting planet discoveries have largely been restricted to the short-period or low-periastron distance regimes due to the bias inherent in the geometric transit probability. Thr…
The Habitable Zone Planet Finder: A Proposed High Resolution NIR Spectrograph for the Hobby Eberly Telescope to Discover Low Mass Exoplanets around M Dwarfs
Suvrath Mahadevan, Larry Ramsey, Jason Wright +10
The Habitable Zone Planet Finder (HZPF) is a proposed instrument for the 10m class Hobby Eberly telescope that will be capable of discovering low mass planets around M dwarfs. HZPF…
Potential Habitability as a Stellar Property: Effects of Model Uncertainties and Measurement Precision
Noah Tuchow, Jason Wright
Knowledge of a star's evolutionary history combined with estimates of planet occurrence rates allows one to infer its relative quality as a location in the search for biosignatures…
A Mini-Neptune and a Venus-Zone Planet in the Radius Valley Orbiting the Nearby M2-dwarf TOI-1266: Validation with the Habitable-zone Planet Finder
Gudmundur Stefansson, Ravi Kopparapu, Andrea Lin +26
We report on the validation of two planets orbiting the nearby (36pc) M2 dwarf TOI-1266 observed by the TESS mission. The inner planet is sub-Neptune-sized ($R=2.46 \pm 0.08 R_\opl…
Deconstructing Alien Hunting
David Kipping, Jason Wright
The search for extraterrestrial (alien) life is one of the greatest scientific quests yet raises fundamental questions about just what we should be looking for and how. We approach…
The Variable Wavelength Dependence of the Dipping event of KIC 8462852
Eva Bodman, Jason Wright, Tabetha Boyajian +1
First observed with the Kepler mission, KIC 8462852 undergoes unexplained dimming events, "dips," on the timescale of days which were again observed from the ground from May to Dec…
Evidence for He I 10830 Ã ~ absorption during the transit of a warm Neptune around the M-dwarf GJ 3470 with the Habitable-zone Planet Finder
Joe P. Ninan, Gudmundur Stefansson, Suvrath Mahadevan +21
Understanding the dynamics and kinematics of out-flowing atmospheres of hot and warm exoplanets is crucial to understanding the origins and evolutionary history of the exoplanets n…
Detection of Ks-band Thermal Emission from WASP-3b
Ming Zhao, Jennifer Milburn, Travis Barman +4
We report the detection of thermal emission from the hot Jupiter WASP-3b in the KS band, using a newly developed guiding scheme for the WIRC instrument at the Palomar Hale 200in te…
Stellar Variability of the Exoplanet Hosting Star HD 63454
Stephen R. Kane, Diana Dragomir, David R. Ciardi +9
Of the hundreds of exoplanets discovered using the radial velocity technique, many are orbiting close to their host stars with periods less than 10 days. One of these, HD 63454, is…
Gaia-4b and 5b: Radial Velocity Confirmation of Gaia Astrometric Orbital Solutions Reveal a Massive Planet and a Brown Dwarf Orbiting Low-mass Stars
Gudmundur Stefansson, Suvrath Mahadevan, Joshua Winn +31
Gaia astrometry of nearby stars is precise enough to detect the tiny displacements induced by substellar companions, but radial velocity data are needed for definitive confirmation…
MARVELS-1b: A Short-Period, Brown Dwarf Desert Candidate from the SDSS-III MARVELS Planet Search
Brian L. Lee, Jian Ge, Scott W. Fleming +59
We present a new short-period brown dwarf candidate around the star TYC 1240-00945-1. This candidate was discovered in the first year of the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exopla…
The HD 217107 Planetary System: Twenty Years of Radial Velocity Measurements
Mark R. Giovinazzi, Cullen H. Blake, Jason D. Eastman +13
The hot Jupiter HD 217107 b was one of the first exoplanets detected using the radial velocity (RV) method, originally reported in the literature in 1999. Today, precise RV measure…
NEID Reveals that The Young Warm Neptune TOI-2076 b Has a Low Obliquity
Robert C. Frazier, Gudmundur Stefansson, Suvrath Mahadevan +27
TOI-2076 b is a sub-Neptune-sized planet () that transits a young () bright () K-dwarf hosting a system of three transiting…
Eclipse timing the Milky Way's gravitational potential
Sukanya Chakrabarti, Daniel J. Stevens, Jason Wright +4
We show that a small, but \textit{measurable} shift in the eclipse mid-point time of eclipsing binary (EBs) stars of 0.1 seconds over a decade baseline can be used to direct…
Towards Space-like Photometric Precision from the Ground with Beam-Shaping Diffusers
Gudmundur Stefansson, Suvrath Mahadevan, Leslie Hebb +21
We demonstrate a path to hitherto unachievable differential photometric precisions from the ground, both in the optical and near-infrared (NIR), using custom-fabricated beam-shapin…
A comprehensive radial velocity error budget for next generation Doppler spectrometers
Samuel Halverson, Ryan Terrien, Suvrath Mahadevan +14
We describe a detailed radial velocity error budget for the NASA-NSF Extreme Precision Doppler Spectrometer instrument concept NEID (NN-explore Exoplanet Investigations with Dopple…