Investigating Stellar-Age and Planet-Mass Correlation using Galactic Chemical Evolution

The observed metallicity-mass correlation for star-planet properties is well known in exoplanet research.  In past, numerous studies have confirmed that Jupiter-like planets are commonly found around metal-rich stars while the stars hosting low-mass planets have a wide range of metallicity. In most of the previous studies, the iron abundance [Fe/H] was used as a proxy for the overall metallicity of the star. In this work, we have analyzed the detailed chemical abundances of alpha and iron-peak elements for a sample of over 900 exoplanet host stars drawn from different radial velocity and transit surveys. We correlate the abundance trends of host stars with the planets' mass. Our findings indicate that parent stars of Jupiter-type giant planets are relatively young. This study also lends independent support to the core-accretion process and further shows that observed trends in stellar abundances and planet mass are more likely a natural consequence of galactic chemical evolution.