Testing planet formation models against observations

¹ Institut UTINAM, CNRS-UMR 6213, Observatoire de Besançon, BP. 1615, 25010 Besançon Cedex, France and Physikalisches Institut, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
² Physikalisches Institut, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern, Switzerland and Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy, Knigstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
³ European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Cordova 3107, Casilla 19001, Santiago 19, Chile

Abstract

In this paper we present a short review of statistical properties of extrasolar planets, and of the core-accretion model and some of its extensions. We also present results of population synthesis models based on extended core-accretion planet formation models (taking into account disk structure and evolution and migration of the protoplanet, see Alibert et al. 2005a). The population synthesis is carried out by calculating the evolution of many disk-protoplanet systems, assuming initial conditions (in particular disk mass, disk lifetime and metallicity of the system) taken from observations. Taking into account the observational bias introduced by radial velocity surveys, we statistically compare the results of our models and the population of known extrasolar planets. We show that our models are able to quantitatively reproduce the mass and semimajor axes of extrasolar planets around solar type stars. Finally, we discuss the effect of the mass of the central star on the planet formation process and on the final planetary population.