Leslie Rogers

Associate Professor

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Background

Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012

Research Fields:

• Exoplanets

Research Groups:

• Rogers Exoplanets Group

Students:

• Andrew Neil (graduate/Astronomy & Astrophysics)
• Jisheng Zhang (graduate/Astronomy & Astrophysics)
• Fei Xu (graduate/Astronomy & Astrophysics)
• Andrea Bryant (graduate/Physics)
• Bridget Haas (graduate/Physics)
• Aware Deshmukh (undergraduate/Astronomy & Astrophysics)
• Alysa Rogers (undergraduate/Physics REU)
• Jessica Liston (undergraduate/Physics REU)
• Ana Sofia Uzsoy (undergraduate/Leadership Alliance)

Postdocs:

• Nadia Marounina

Research

Prof. Rogers studies the formation, interior structure, and evolution of exoplanets. Her research aims to deepen the current understanding of the rich physics governing sub-Neptune-size planet interiors, to discover bulk composition trends in the growing census of known exoplanets, and to connect these composition trends back to distinct planet formation pathways. To pursue these goals, Rogers and her group advance numerical models for the interior, evolution, and formation of small exoplanets, and develop statistical frameworks to connect theory and observations.

Selected Publications

• *=student advised, ^=postdoc advised
• Coupled Thermal and Compositional Evolution of Photoevaporating Planet Envelopes, *Malsky, I. and Rogers, L.A. 2020, ApJ, 896, 48.
• Tidally-Distorted, Iron-Enhanced Exoplanets Closely Orbiting Their Stars, *Price, E. and Rogers, L.A. 2020, ApJ, 894, 8.
• A Joint Mass─Radius─Period Distribution of Exoplanets, *Neil, A. and Rogers, L.A. 2020, ApJ, 891, 12.
• Internal Structure and CO2 Reservoirs of Habitable Water-Worlds, ^Marounina, N. and Rogers, L.A. 2020, ApJ, 890, 107.
• Host Star Dependence of Small Planet Mass-Radius Distributions, *Neil, A. and Rogers, L.A. 2018, ApJ, 858, 1.
• Absence of a Metallicity Effect for Ultra-short-period Planets, Winn, J.N., Sanchis-Ojeda, R., Rogers, L.A., and 7 co-authors. 2017, AJ, 154, 60.
• Examining the Evolution of Gaseous Sub-Neptune-Mass Planets with MESA, *Chen, H. and Rogers, L.A. 2016, ApJ, 831, 180.
• Probabilistic Mass-Radius Relationship for Sub-Neptune-Sized Planets, Wolfgang, A., Rogers, L.A., and Ford, E.B. 2015, ApJ, 825, 19.
• Revised Masses and Densities of the Planets around Kepler-10, Weiss, L., Rogers, L.A., Isaacson, H., Agol, E., Marcy, G.W., Rowe, J., Kipping, D., Fulton, B., Lissauer, J.J., Howard, A.W., and Fabrycky, D. 2016, ApJ, 819, 83.
• Most 1.6 Earth-Radii Planets are not Rocky, Rogers, L. A. 2015, ApJ, 801, 41
• How Low can you Go? The Photoeccentric Effect for Planets of Various Sizes, *Price, E., Rogers, L.A., Johnson, J., and Dawson, B. 2014, ApJ, 799, 17
• Transit Light Curves with Finite Integration Time: Fisher Information Analysis, *Price, E., Rogers, L. A. 2014, ApJ, 794, 92
• Formation and Structure of Low-Density Exo-Neptunes, Rogers, L.A., Bodenheimer, P., Lissauer, J.J., Seager, S. 2011. ApJ, 738, 59
• Three Possible Origins for the Gas Layer on GJ 1214b, Rogers, L.A., Seager, S. 2010. ApJ, 716, 1208
• A Framework for Quantifying the Degeneracies of Exoplanet Interior Compositions, Rogers, L.A., Seager, S. 2010. ApJ, 712, 974

News & Highlights

• Dr. Leslie Rogers has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure, January 2, 2024
• Leslie Rogers won a 2023 Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award, July 6, 2023
• Congratulations to Prof. Leslie Rogers!, December 9, 2022
• “Many planets could have atmospheres rich in helium, study finds”, UChicago News, November 22, 2022
• “Student uses NASA data to reveal new details on planets in other solar systems”, UChicago News, by Louise Lerner, November 7, 2022
• Congratulations to Harper Learmonth!, November 7, 2022
• Leslie Rogers won a 2022 Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award, October 3, 2022
• Congratulations to Dr. Andrew Neil, September 15, 2021

• Leslie Rogers receives 2020 Cottrell Scholar Award, Department News

• Scientists debate likelihood of finding life on other planets by 2042, The University of Chicago News Office