Talk abstract details
Validating the smallest CoRoT candidates with PASTIS: the method
Abstract
With the advent of CoRoT and Kepler and their uninterrupted high-precision, space-based photometry, transiting candidates of sizes comparable to that of the Earth have been discovered. Confirmation of these objects via radial velocity measurements is out of reach of current instrumentation, due mainly to the faintness of the targets of these surveys and the small reflex motion expected to be produced by the transiting object. For these objects, the concept of "planet validation" has taken shape. Basically, it consists in comparing the relative probabilities of the candidate being a planet and it being a false positive, given a set of priors on Galactic population and stellar binary characteristics.
In this talk, I will present PASTIS, a tool developed at LAM to validate planets through bayesian model comparison. I will describe the modeling of a wide variety of false positive scenarios, and methods employed for estimating the bayesian evidence, which is a key element for model comparison. A series of synthetic examples are employed to demonstrate the efficiency and power of the bayesian approach to planet validation.
In this talk, I will present PASTIS, a tool developed at LAM to validate planets through bayesian model comparison. I will describe the modeling of a wide variety of false positive scenarios, and methods employed for estimating the bayesian evidence, which is a key element for model comparison. A series of synthetic examples are employed to demonstrate the efficiency and power of the bayesian approach to planet validation.