Orbital Stability of Earth-Like Planets in Exoplanetary Systems

The study of exoplanets has made a significant leap since the first
planet around a solar type star, 51 Pegasi b (Mayor & Queloz 1995), was
discovered almost two decades ago. The number of confirmed exoplanets
has already surpassed most peoples' expectations with a count of 1906
as of April 1, 2015. New exoplanets are being added everyday into the
database which has also raised the number of terrestrial planets. After
all, the ultimate conquest of the contemporary exoplanet research is
to find a planet within its respective habitable zone with conditions
to support life. Since long-term orbital stability of planets is one of
the criteria for life to develop, the study of the exoplanets in terms
of orbital dynamics is considered vital.

In this talk, I will briefly mention current exoplanetary research
activities which include orbital dynamics.  Then the results of our
studies from the long-term orbital stability of the planets around GJ 832
with an emphasis on a potential Earth-like planet will be presented. GJ
832 is an M type star that is known to host two planets, GJ 832c (inner)
and GJ 832b (outer).  Various phase space analyses for inner planet will
be performed to confirm its stability. Also, stability of an Earth-mass
planet injected in between the inner and outer planets will be discussed
in terms of its lifetime and eccentricity evolution. Finally, the
planet's habitability in the stellar habitable zone that extends
from 0.13 AU to 0.28 AU will be reviewed.