Title:
Synthesizing Results from Multiple Discovery Techniques: The Demographics of Planets Around M Dwarfs
Abstract:
The results of several exoplanet discovery methods have begun to characterize the underlying population of planets in our galaxy. These studies have provided interesting results, but, individually, are constrained to limited regions of planet parameter space. Synthesizing detection results from multiple methods yields more powerful constraints on the demographics of exoplanets than is afforded by any individual technique, better informing models of planet formation and migration. I will provide a general review of the four main exoplanet detection techniques, and discuss the comparison and combination of results from radial velocity and microlensing surveys, demonstrating an ability to derive robust constraints on the frequency of planets orbiting M dwarfs across several orders of magnitude in both planet mass and semimajor axis. I will also discuss an ongoing project that will combine the results of microlensing, radial velocity, and direct imaging surveys to constrain the distribution of long-period, giant planets and the implications of the resultant constraints on the population of wide separation, or unbound, planets identified by microlensing.