Towards a Unified Story of Hot Jupiter Formation

The field of exoplanets is replete with remarkable discoveries, yet the detection of hot Jupiters — giant planets orbiting perilously close to their parent stars — remains one of the most intriguing findings. The existence of these behemoth worlds was wholly unpredicted by centuries of observation of our Solar System. Despite being the most well-characterized type of exoplanets due to their observability, the formation and evolution of hot Jupiters remain unclear, even after enormous efforts over the past three decades. In this talk, I will offer a nuanced review of the observational properties of gas giants and highlight the most recent progress made by my research group. We aim to shed light on a potential unified framework for hot Jupiter formation, moving us closer to answering the longest-standing question in the field.