Paper:	Inflated Planets and their Low-Mass Companions
Volume:	398, Extreme Solar Systems
Page:	529
Authors:	Mardling, R.A.
Abstract:	Various mechanisms have been proposed to explain the inflated size of HD 209458b after it became clear that it has no companions capable of producing a stellar reflex velocity greater than around 5ms−1. Had there been such a companion, the hypothesis that it forces the eccentricity of the inflated planet thereby tidally heating it may have been readily accepted. Here we summarize a paper by the author which shows that companion planets with masses as low as a fraction of an Earth mass are capable of sustaining a non-zero eccentricity in the observed planet for at least the age of the system. While such companions produce stellar reflex velocities which are fractions of a meter per second and hence are below the stellar jitter limit, they are consistent with recent theoretical work which suggests that the planet migration process often produces low-mass companions to short-period giants.

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