Center for Advanced Studies of Planetary Systems

Planetary systems research is one of the most dynamic parts in modern astrophysics. The recent activity to a large extent was stimulated by the announcement in 1995 of the discovery of the first extrasolar planet orbiting a solar-like star 51 Pegasi made by Geneva Observatory group. Since then, over 200 planets in more than 170 planetary systems have been discovered by various techniques. The research proceeds along multiple lines including:

· Search for new planets

· Studying of planet birth places to understand planet formation

· Studying host stars to understand why not all the stars have planets and to define the conditions for potential existence of life which are called "habitable zone"

· Development of new instruments capable of detecting radiation coming from planets in order to look for signatures of biological activity

· Studies of our solar system look for the origins of water on Earth, tracing stories of atmospheres on Mars and Venus, studying the properties of planetary magnetic fields and their interaction with the solar wind

· Theoretical modelling of planet formation and evolution: from chemical stratification of the protoplanetary disk to dust particle formation and subsequent hierarchal growth of planetesimals.

As one can see the field combines technical, observational and theoretical efforts. It also requires strong multidisciplinary interaction since the systems that we study cannot be brought to a lab and dissected. Swedish Astronomy, Space physics, Geosciences and solid state physics have world-leading expertise in the areas relevant to planetary systems research. The role of CASPS is to coordinate and direct the activities in this field on order to make the best use of our potential, of the existing and future international collaborations in order to achieve important progress in the specific important topics. We foresee the Center activities to proceed along four general lines:

· Spectroscopic and interferometric observations of proto-planetary disks and host stars, characterisation of these objects in terms of global physical parameters (mass, temperature, size and chemical composition)

· Theoretical modelling of planetary formation and evolution with the emphasis on non-equilibrium processes in gas and dust, radiative energy transport, interaction with ionizing radiation, magnetic and electric fields, planet dynamics

· Education of young astronomers interested in entering this field

· Public outreach

We plan to select specific scientific goals and open questions where we have more extensive expertise and expect to achieve major progress through cross-disciplinary interaction. In order to identify the most promising research directions we looked at following question:

· What are the outstanding challenges in planetary systems research?

· What are our common interests?

· What are the topics where cross-disciplinary approach can be most effective?

· What are the areas where we a particularly good?

We also looked at the “tools” that we have:

Observations/Technology

1. Space technology/Instrument development

2. Ground-based observing facilities for surveys, spectroscopy, interferometry, radar probing

3. Space-based observing facilities

4. in situ measurements

Theoretical/Numerical models

1. Microphysics