AASTCS 9: Exoplanets IV Invited Talk

Congratulations to Zhaohuan Zhu for giving an invited talk at the AASTCS 9: Exoplanets IV conference (May 2–6, 2022, M Resort Spa Casino, Las Vegas, NV). A recorded video of the talk is above, and its abstract is below:

Probing Young Planets in Protoplanetary Disks and Implications For Planet Formation Theory

Both optical (near-IR) and radio observations have revealed complicated structures in protoplanetary disks, including gaps/rings, spirals, asymmetry, and even misaligned disks. Since observations at different wavelengths are tracing disk surfaces at different disk heights, these observations are painting a 3-D structure of young disks. I will discuss some recent observational and theoretical developments on disk features and their potential connections with young planets across a wide mass range. A potential young planet population far away from the central star is being revealed by these observations. On the other hand, observations only provide us individual snapshot during the planet formation process. To connect and understand different stages of planet formation, we need theory and numerical simulations. Some recent radiation hydrodynamical simulations on the planet’s envelope gathering phase will be presented. These simulations not only shed light on the super-Earth/mini-Neptune populations but also reveal what to expect from future observations, including JWST and ngVLA.