DIX Planetary Science Seminar

Shuo is a final-year joint PhD student at Tsinghua and Leiden. His research focuses on the

orbital dynamics and formation origins of planetary systems, including TRAPPIST-1 and the

Solar System. He also works on planet population synthesis and the planet-forming

"transition disks" observed with ALMA. (https://shuohuanggit.github.io)

Abstract: In the past two decades, transit surveys have revealed a population of sub-

Neptunes—planets with thick atmospheres that must have completed their growth within

protoplanetary disks. During this stage, gravitational interactions with the disk drive planet

migration, often trapping neighboring planets into mean-motion resonances. Yet most

exoplanets today are not in resonance, indicating that dynamical instabilities must have

disrupted many primordial resonances. My research seeks to uncover the history of planet

formation from these orbital architectures. In this talk, I will first show how planet formation

leaves imprints in resonant systems such as TRAPPIST-1. I will then demonstrate how outer

giant planets can destabilize the primordial resonances of inner terrestrial planets and even

trigger Moon-forming impacts, as in our Solar System.