Astronomy Tea Talk
Speaker 1: Tom Wagg
Title: Using cogsworth to make self-consistent population synthesis & galactic dynamics simulations of observable populations of massive binary products
Abstract:
Feedback from massive stars shapes the formation and evolution of galaxies. The majority of these massive stars are found in binaries, yet many parameters within binary stellar evolution remain poorly constrained. One avenue for improving constraints on these parameters is by using positions and kinematics of massive stars. Binary interactions can leave significant imprints on these parameters, ejecting massive stars rapidly from their birth sites. I will present a new code, cogsworth, which combines population synthesis and galactic dynamics self-consistently, providing the theoretical infrastructure necessary to make detailed predictions for the positions and kinematics of many different massive stellar populations.
I will demonstrate how one can use cogsworth to make predictions for a range of observable binary products, from massive runaway stars and X-ray binaries, to supernovae and short gamma-ray bursts. I will show how cogsworth enables you to plot detailed evolution and orbits of specific binaries, track present-day positions of specific subpopulations and convert intrinsic populations to observables in Gaia. I also will share recent predictions I've made with cogsworth on how binary interactions can delay and displace supernova feedback in galaxies. This can reduce the efficiency of feedback close to star-forming regions, and potentially drive galactic outflows from low-density environments.
Speaker 2: Emma Turtelboom
Title: Searching For Additional Planets in Multi-Planet Systems
Abstract:
Multi-planet system architectures are frequently used to constrain the evolutionary pathways of observed exoplanets. Therefore, understanding the predictive and descriptive power of empirical models of these systems is critical to understanding their formation histories. Therefore, I analyzed 52 TESS multi-planet systems previously studied using DYNAMITE (Dietrich & Apai, 2020), who used empirical models based on Kepler planets to predict additional planets in each system. I used additional TESS data to search for these predicted planets, and thereby evaluate the predictive power of these empirical models. Specifically, I studyied whether a period ratio method or clustered period model more accurately predicted additional planets. I found that neither model is highly predictive, highlighting the need for additional data and nuanced models to describe the full exoplanet population.