ABSTRACT

The search for extrasolar planets initially focused on Sun-like FGK main-sequence stars, but efforts have been made in recent years to search for planets around more massive stars in their giant phase and less massive M-dwarf stars. In this talk, the speaker will present some examples of planetary systems that have been discovered around giant stars and M dwarfs. They exhibit unusual orbital configurations such as pairs of planets in mean-motion resonances, three or more planets in resonant chains, and retrograde orbits in binary star systems. The speaker will discuss the dynamics of these systems and the constraints that they place on the formation and dynamical evolution of planetary systems.

BIO
Lee Man Hoi 李文恺 received his BSc degree from the University of Toronto and PhD degree from Princeton University. He was a postdoctoral fellow and research scientist at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Queen's University, and the University of California at Santa Barbara, before he joined the University of Hong Kong in 2008. He is currently the Head of the Department of Earth Sciences and an associate professor in the Department of Earth Sciences and Department of Physics at the University of Hong Kong. He works on the dynamics and formation of planetary bodies in our Solar System and in planetary systems around other stars.