3 papers
astro-ph.EP2025
Carbon-rich Sub-Neptune Interiors Are Compatible with JWST Observations
Zifan Lin, Sara Seager
Many possible interior compositions exist for sub-Neptunes: ice-poor, ice-rich, and water-dominated interiors can all match the measured masses and radii. Motivated by recent theor…
astro-ph.EP2024
Interior and Gravity Field Models for Uranus Suggest Mixed-composition Interior: Implications for the Uranus Orbiter and Probe
Zifan Lin, Sara Seager, Benjamin P. Weiss
The interior composition and structure of Uranus are ambiguous. It is unclear whether Uranus is composed of fully differentiated layers dominated by an icy mantle or has smooth com…
astro-ph.EP2024
Most High-density Exoplanets Are Unlikely to Be Remnant Giant-planet Cores
Zifan Lin, Saverio Cambioni, Sara Seager
Some exoplanets have much higher densities than expected from stellar abundances of planet-forming elements. There are two theories - metal-rich formation hypothesis and naked core…