Which stars have planets?

Abstract

The question of predicting which stars have planetary systems is discussed, with special attention given to the work of Nakano (1988), who combined scaling arguments with his theory (Nakano, 1987) of formation of planets in the solar system to estimate planetary growth rates around stars of various masses. It is argued that, in addition to stellar mass, the process of planet formation depends on other parameters, such as angular momentum and collisions. The existence of binary and multiple star systems of varying type demonstrates that angular momentum variations can play a crucial role, while the fact that the solar system has four giant planets and four terrestrial planets is considered to be due to the effects of random impacts and scatterings. It is concluded that, at present, the concept of determining what types of planetary systems are to be expected about stars of varying masses cannot be resolved.