The Department of Astronomy 2025-2026 Colloquium Series Presents:

"Connecting planetary properties with formation: a new paradigm emerges"

Abstract: One of the central challenges facing planet formation theory is in understanding how observed planetary properties – their masses, orbital characteristics, bulk properties and atmospheric compositions – are connected to their formation in host protoplanetary disks (PPDs). Forming planets accrete pebbles, planetesimals, and gas with a wide range of chemical compositions as they migrate through their evolving PPDs. Essential to these processes is how angular momentum is transported and removed from disks. Recent powerful MHD simulations and a wide range of ALMA and JWST observations confirm that MHD disk winds and not disk turbulence likely play the dominant role. In this talk, I will review these advances, their consequences for a new paradigm for planet formation, and discuss several current projects in my group on the effects of such winds on planetary populations and planetary properties such as their mass-radius relations.