Prediction of the Planet Detection Rates by the PRIME Microlensing Survey

Iona Kondo  ✧  Osaka University, Japan

The PRime-focus Infrared Microlensing Experiment (PRIME) will start a NIR microlensing survey in the Galactic Center, which cannot be seen by conventional visible observation due to the high dust extinction. The main purpose of PRIME is to reveal the demography of low-mass planets outside the snow-line and the planet frequency in the Galactic Center.

PRIME will conduct a H-band high-cadence wide field of view (FOV) survey using a 1.8m telescope (f/2.29) with 1.45 deg\(^2\) (0.5''/pix) NIR camera to be installed at South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Sutherland.

Here, we investigate the expected number and characteristics of the detected planets depending on various observation strategies. In order to maximize the number of planet detections, we optimize the observation field and the cadence between which there are trade-offs.

We estimate the detection efficiency of the primary events and planetary signals following the procedure bellow: (i) randomly simulate microlensing events toward different directions in the Galactic bulge based on the Galactic model (Koshimoto+2021), (ii) generate synthetic data points based on the observation condition and strategy of PRIME, (iii) exert detectability criteria to these simulated events. Finally, we calculate the statistics and planet yields for each observation strategy. In this talk, we will present the current results of our simulation and discuss the optimal survey strategies and predicted planet yields by the PRIME microlensing survey. We will also discuss the effect of changing the Koshimoto+2021 Galactic model to the Besançon Galactic Model (Robin+2003).