Analytically Evaluating the Stability of Multi-Planet Systems with Binary Companions

Among many of the factors that impact how, and whether, stars host planets is the stellar multiplicity. While very close binary can suppress planet formation entire, a more removed companion may exert an important, but non-catastrophic, dynamical influence. I will present an investigation, for a subset of known planetary systems, for the mass and orbital separation parameter space for possible binary companions. Dynamical constraints from existing work set boundaries on how massive, close, and eccentric such a companion can be, and still leave the planetary system undisturbed. I’ll describe the python pipeline I crafted to explore this parameter space. These graphs showed at what distance and eccentricity these binary companions could theoretically lie. This is especially interesting for a number of systems that show signs of excess radial velocity noise, hinting at a companion but not revealing its orbital properties. Using the simulations I created, I have been able to determine that a number of real life exoplanet systems produced results that proved a binary companion star could possibly exist within the system. This provides further confirmation and evidence for future research on these hypothetical binaries. I look forward to turning this pipeline into a python package that can be used more widely.