Demographics of Small Kepler Planets and their Dependence on Stellar Mass

The “radius valley” is a feature in the short-period, small exoplanet population in Kepler and K2 data showing an abundance of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes, with a relatively scarce population of intermediate-sized planets between the two. Several studies explore the radius valley’s dependence on host star properties, specifically stellar age and mass, with a wide range of treatments to the population of small close-in planets. We employ updated stellar properties and implement refined measures of completeness and reliability to observe how the Kepler small planet population varies as a function of stellar mass. These results are extrapolated into the Habitable Zone, placing an estimate on the occurrence rate of habitable, Earth-like planets that still retain their atmospheres. We further attempt to constrain the degree of stripped cores “contaminating” the super-Earth population as a function of period, which will help constrain models of photoevaporation and core powered mass loss. We discuss these results in the context of TESS and compare preliminary demographics between the Kepler field and the solar neighborhood.